Black-White Graduation Gap INCREASED Among College Football Players

ORLANDO, Fla. — The disparity between graduation rates for white and black college football players at schools headed to bowl games grew slightly this year, according to a study released Monday.

The annual report by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport also showed overall academic progress. But there were 21 schools that graduated fewer than 50 percent of their black football players, the study found. That's up from 19 last year.

Richard Lapchick, the director of the institute, said the widening gap between whites and blacks was surprising because those numbers had closed in recent years.

"That could be a temporary blip, but it certainly caught me by surprise," he said. "I think part of it is the urban education system where a lot of the African-American students come from is so depleted. Too many student-athletes recruited from those areas are so far behind when they come to college, it's difficult to catch up."

The study was based on NCAA statistics collected from member institutions. The analysis is of the 67 schools that have accepted bowl invitations by Monday.

"There is still room for improvement, but the trend lines are generally moving in the right direction," NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said in a statement.

The study showed 57 schools had graduation success rates of 66 percent or higher for white football players, which was more than 2.8 times the number schools with equivalent graduation success rates for black football players. That's up from 56 schools last year.

Four schools had graduation success rates for black football players that exceeded rates for white players – Connecticut (5 percent higher), Troy (7 percent higher), Southern Mississippi (8 percent higher) and Rutgers (4 percent higher). That was down from five schools in last year's study.

Lapchick said getting more minorities in administrative positions – like head coaches and athletic directors – could help curb the numbers. He also said he will be looking closer at financial issues to see how much, if at all, the economic downturn is affecting the numbers.

While the disparity between whites and blacks increased, overall progress grew.

About 90 percent of the teams surveyed this year received a score of more than 925 on the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) compared with 88 percent last season, according to the report. Sixty-one of the 67 schools had at least a 50 percent graduation rate for their football teams, the same as a year ago.

Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Northeastern University's Sport in Society, said analysts will have to monitor those figures next year to see if it's the beginning of a trend.

"It's enough to get this conversation started," Czesniuk said. "But to actually create change, you'll have to dig deeper."

Lapchick said overall academic progress has had steady growth because the NCAA could reduce scholarships for schools that can't meet the minimum requirements.

"Schools almost never take a very risky student any more because they just can't afford the penalty," he said.

Lapchick noted that "if there were a national championship based on graduation success rates among bowl teams, Navy and Northwestern would have played for the national championship." He said both teams graduated at least 92 percent of football players and at least 83 percent of black players.

The study found Stanford and Air Force were the best based on APR, with scores of 984 and 983.

Comments

[downsouthliberal]

02:34 PM on 12/08/2009

I go to Ole Miss, an SEC school. Our football players get grad student tutoring free of charge, academic advisers who create and monitor their studying, and class checkers who make sure they go to class. They get all this and still have trouble graduating. I think what others have stated is true: the problem lies with parents and their hometown education systems. One thing that has worked for some of our academically challenged players is attending a post-grad year at a military academy such as Hargrave in Virginia. I'm not exactly sure who foots their tuition bill, but it has produced results. One player in particular, Jarrell Powe, could not qualify over two years, but after intensive remedial work at Hargrave, was able to gain admission at Ole Miss. Now he is in school and making decent grades. Just a thought.

[lsudem]

03:48 AM on 12/11/2009

I went to LSU and our athletes got the same, and we consistently rank among the worst for graduating athletes. While providing free tutoring and advisers is good, it's clearly not a solution to the problem. The fact is student-athletes are athletes first and students second. No matter how good your tutoring, and how well managed your time is, it's nearly (but not totally) impossible to complete a full-time degree in four years, while also working full-time. And don't kid yourself, the commitment of being a student-athlete makes the same demands on your time as a full-time job. A major part of the problem is that the NCAA's rules are geared more toward making it look like they're trying to graduate players than actually graduating players. You were right when you said that the problem lies with hometown education systems. So how realistic is it to expect someone who struggled in high school or came from a financially disadvantage school system to juggle school and a sport successfully in four years?

Powe's story is hardly unique. Athletes have gone to prep/military academies and community colleges to get their grades up for years. Like you said, this remedial work adds significantly to the time it takes to get a degree. The NCAA is geared toward getting athletes out of school in four years, which undercuts the only method actually showing progress.

[NoPCZone]

11:49 AM on 12/08/2009

Then there is the SEC- with the lowest graduation rate of all...
It's a modern plantation system.

[JPMac]

09:55 AM on 12/08/2009

The problem is not a lack of blacks in administrative positions like coaches and athletic directors, the problem is a lack of black fathers!!!

From NPR from 2005:

Forty years ago, a government report on the state of the black family in America warned that almost one out of four black children were born to unmarried mothers. Recent figures suggest that now, almost 70 percent of black children are born out of wedlock.

Solve that problem and we solve a lot of problems in the black community!!!

[Doc0976]

12:18 PM on 12/08/2009

That is just one of many issues, but I don't believe it can be so simply boiled down to absentee fathers. My mother is the product of a single parent household in rural West Africa and now she is a mayor - college-educated and well-spoken. I am the product of a single family household and I too am college-educated, pursuing my Masters degree and comfortably employed with a six-figure income. No kids, no diseases, no drug habits...

I state these facts to say that the problem in the black community is the lack of attention paid to intellectualism, progress and education in general. Single family households have been churning out model citizens for some time now, regardless of color and ethnicity. There's a cultural problem in the black community that needs to be addressed. Many black women are more concerned about getting their hair and nails done than making sure their kids are in school, doing homework and succeeding. Guardians, parents and family members are doing their children a disservice by de-emphasizing the importance of speaking well, integrating into an increasingly multi-cultural and technological society and striving for the best academic standards.

Not everyone is going to grow up to be Jay-Z and Beyonce...

[OdysseusNemesis]

06:05 AM on 12/08/2009

I DON'T know why some people continue to compare Black and White? It doesn't solve any problem except that it makes some people feel good or bad about themselves. The world is NOT divided into Black/White, and those who have created this imaginary 'Black/White' world should know that the rest of the world share no interest in their fantasy and make-believe world.

[nubret2008]

11:11 AM on 12/08/2009

I feel you on in general, but these studies also help to find weaknesses within the system. Quote: "I think part of it is the urban education system where a lot of the African-American students come from is so depleted. Too many student-athletes recruited from those areas are so far behind when they come to college, it's difficult to catch up."

If you wouldn*'t have these studies it would be much easier to argue that differences are based on race but on flaws in the system.

[PowerPridePinstripes]

11:58 AM on 12/08/2009

Well get used to it cause this comparison will never go away...

[jcwtts1]

01:22 AM on 12/08/2009

There are a couple of problems with this article I address some of them bellow but to recap the average graduation time for boys at 4 year colleges is over 5 years. So if these numbers only speak to 4 years then that could be problematic. Most kids don't go on to play NFL football but that doesn't mean, just because they aren't playing ball they aren't going to graduate in 1 2 or even 3 semesters more. The second detail that they only skim over is socio-economic. Playing sports is like working a 40 hour week along with going to school. Breaking the number by race but not by economics is problematic because if a black player needs to work off the books bouncing at a local bar in order to survive and a white player has enough family money to not worry about any extra work in or out of season they have a better chance of graduating on time. The reverse is true in my opinion as well. The kid who doesn't have to work an extra 20 hours a week on top of the sport has more time for being a student more time to study. Add to that the diverse educational background and a non magnet school urban student of whatever race has more time adjusting to the typical 4 year college. Does that mean they can't? No, it just means that their track might be 6 years instead of 4.

[BigPictureReg]

09:07 PM on 12/07/2009

Another unfortunate by-product of this process is the attempt by many colleges to circumvent the obvious weaknesses of athletes. Those with substantially, sub-par academic strength are directed first to a nearby junior college, with the plans for transfer to the 4-year institution - a blatant attempt to lower the bar on admissions. No doubt, some of these athletes simply aren't fit for college-level work. But, why not add another paper drill to mask the denial?

A childhood friend of mine fit into this category. It was no surprise to those of us who were aware of his lack of academic power to find that this too led to failure. Years later, this former, all-sport athlete is back in our home town barely scraping by in a financial sense, based upon the neighborhood where he lives, and is also, not surprisingly, reclusive.

It's just a guess, but, there are probably thousands like him.

[hopefull2008]

10:15 PM on 12/07/2009

Anybody know of good reading material on this subject ?

[Forester]

07:04 PM on 12/07/2009

The money generated from TV contracts, endorsements and alumni donations will only make this problem worse. No one wants to talk about this subject, while everyone knows its true. NCAA football has really become a grotesque growth on these institutions, and are also highly symbolic of our national disdain for intellectualism in general. Why not just have NFL-vocational schools, and dispense with the charade? These kids should be able to excel in their sport and move onto to their careers, but most have no business being in an academic institution.

[davidariley]

07:55 PM on 12/07/2009

the ncaa willl NEVER allow an nfl minor league, becuase it would deplete the college ranks of the best players - like in hockey and baseball. when's the last time one of those sports garned the ncaa a $billion television contract?


before prop 48, i might have agreed about those who had no place in college, but i don't know if i'd say "most".

[Forester]

07:59 PM on 12/07/2009

So what to do? This can only get worse, and the BCS bowl fiasco is just more evidence of a broken system,

[ICorpsDoc]

01:14 PM on 12/08/2009

"the ncaa willl NEVER allow an nfl minor league"


They already have one. The Redskins just signed a punter off one of those minior league teams today.

[EndRacismNow]

06:41 PM on 12/07/2009

Another reason for this disparity might be the fact that the elite players skip out on college to join the NFL.

[george389]

09:51 PM on 12/07/2009

that's such a small number i doubt it plays much of a role

[jcwtts1]

01:17 AM on 12/08/2009

Maybe, maybe not. See, the information is vague in the article. Are they only looking at 4 year graduation rates, or are they looking at people who finish in 5, 6, even 7 years? My guess is that they are simply looking at the 4 year rate and that is problematic because the average amount of time for a college degree is 4.3 years for girls and 5.8 for boys. At least it was the last time I saw any stats. It has been a couple of years. So if you take the numbers by race but don't take them by average completion date for the general population you end up with skewed numbers.

[William Diaz]

06:37 PM on 12/07/2009

How is this a news story again? Doesnt the sports editor know something about sports?

Can you say 'Dexter Manley'?

I knew Dexter, I was a football DE in highschool in the town he lived in. I used to feed him on Saturday mornings at McDonalds. I worked as a masonry laborer one summer, one of the houses built was Dexter's townhouse on Ring Rd in Reston Va.

I got to know the other side of his life as well. I went to medical school in Houston, where Dexter was from and my best friend lived in Dexter's old neighborhood. His sister even dated Mr Manley at one point, an assertion unanimously made by my friend's family.

The system used Dexter. He was illiterate. This was a well known fact to people who knew him. He played at Jack Yates, because the coaches there used him and the teachers passed him. He went to Oklahoma State Univ, because he got a highschool diploma without being able to read. The coaches had to know, theres no way to coach someone who cant read without being aware of that. But OSU didnt care, they just used him and his 'professors' passed him for 4 years.

Dexter was my football idol. He was everything I wanted to be on a football field, but what happened to him was everything I wouldnt wish on anyone. Yes, he did it to himself. But did he really?


Have a great day!

[urnumbersix]

10:32 PM on 12/07/2009

Modern day Gladiators.
"We who are about to die, salute you."
"Are you not entertained?"

[StJames]

11:09 AM on 12/08/2009

The NCAA was supposed to put an end to this type of exploitation, and that's all it is really. Then the Alumni associations at all the big schools started bellyaching and lobbying and the standards went down again.

My son played Pop Warner and then high school football with a 2 gifted athletes...one never played beyond college...the other plays for the Browns. So the system worked well for one but not so well for the other...as his college days were not wasted on academics and he completed his eligibility without gaining any useful skills.

[Doc0976]

06:27 PM on 12/07/2009

You don't say?????

I went to Penn State, another illustrious football factory. I had players in my class ASSUME they could have me as their personal homework mill because they were entitled football players (huge fail on that assumption, so to speak). Not only is their inability to pass and graduate tied to the substandard school systems they come from, but many coaches weaken academic standards for these guys so that they can continue to play and make money for the college. Status quo in the high school systems, too.

In the end, the majority of them are being used for their athletic ability while they squander their opportunity to make a life for themselves outside of football. I saw it happen during my time at PSU and it's shameful. The worst part of it is that many of them don't even get picked up for professional football and are left high and dry during draft season. In the end, I blame the parents/guardians because many of them value their children's athletic ability over their education, probably because they too lack an education and common sense.

Sad but true.

[supertim]

06:08 PM on 12/07/2009

it would be interesting to know what kind of programs these football factories, err i mean bcs colleges, they steer their student athletes into, my guess is that there would be a gap in terms of rigorous disciplines between the players as well

[Mosby12]

06:02 PM on 12/07/2009

And so what.. this is racism too??? African American's dominate the playing field but when they don't do as well in the classroom.. it's got to be the systems fault even with the daily tutoring and the less than challenging work loads for all large school atheletes?