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By Kent Larsen
BYU Football Graduation Rates Among Lowest in NCAA
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- The NCAA released a study last week of
student-athlete graduation rates that puts BYU on the bottom when measuring
the difference between the graduation rate of football players at the school
and the graduation rate of male students at BYU. But while the rates are
affected by the prevalence of LDS missionaries at BYU, missionaries still
don't explain why BYU's rate is so low. And the rates could put BYU out of
post-season and championship competition under the Knight Commission's
recommendations released earlier this year.
The study shows that overall graduation rates held steady over the past
three years for student-athletes at NCAA Division I schools, but shows that
the disparity between graduation rates for the student body and the rates
for athletes remains very large. In BYU's case, 71% of all students who
entered the school in 1994-95 graduated within six years. But among BYU
athletes that rate drops to 55%. For football players the rate is just 30%.
The difference between the overall rate (71%) and the football rate (30%) is
the largest difference among Division I schools, according to USA Today's
analysis of the study.
BYU, as well as other Utah-based schools, points to LDS missionaries as a
factor in the lower BYU rates, compared to other Division I schools. The
study gives students six years to complete their education before the
graduation rate is calculated. However, LDS missionaries are probably a
lower proportion of BYU football players than among the male student body at
BYU. The rates also ignore transfers and early departures to professional
leagues.
The latest rates were released just three months after the Knight
Commission's study of graduation rates. That commission decried the low
rates in football and basketball, suggesting that "big-time athletics
departments seem to operate with little interest in scholastic matters
beyond the narrow issue of individual eligibility." The commission
recommended that student athletes be held to the same admissions criteria as
other students, shortening the length of playing seasons and barring schools
from post-season and championship play if they don't graduate at least 50%
of their athletes.
Sources:
Graduation rates at top-tier football programs poor
USA Today 19Sep01 S3
By Steve Wieberg: USA Today
Graduation rates at top-tier football programs poor
NCAA Student-Athlete Graduation Rates Remain Steady for Third Consecutive Year
NCAA News Release 10Sep01 S3
BYU Graduation Rates
NCAA website 10Sep01 S3
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