University student-athletes have some catching up to do, but this time it’s not on the field.
Student-athlete graduation rates have fallen to 15 percent lower than the national average of 62 percent. If 100 students entered the University as athletes in 2000, only 47 of them would graduated by 2006.
The latest data, released in November 2006, represents the 1999-2000 graduation rate. The graduation rate is “based on a comparison of the number of students who entered a college or university and the number of those who graduated within six years,” according to the NCAA report.
Professional tennis player Courtney Nagle, a 2005 University alumna, first played tennis for the University. She said she never had trouble balancing athletics and academics, even with a full-time class load.
“In my experience as a student-athlete, the demands weren’t too much for me to handle,” she said. “Our coaches and everything were always making sure that we all made time for school, and if our loads were too heavy they’d give us time we needed off.”
Non-student-athlete graduation rates at the University are actually closer to the national average for student-athletes.
Sixty-three percent of University students graduate within six years, according to the Oregon University System. That places the student-athlete graduation rate 16 percent below the student body average.
This is not common.
“Student-athletes continue to graduate at a rate higher than college students nationally,” according to an NCAA press release written last year.
The University’s statistics currently do not reflect that statement.
“Obviously it is a big deal because it says something about the University and athletics… if they’re not meeting the standards of the United States graduation rates,” said Nagle.
University officials said the report contained discrepancies, and called attention to factors not included in the final graduation rate, like transfer students.
“You’re just looking at a snapshot in time,” said Jennie Leander, Associate Director at Services for Student-Athletes. “I don’t think it’s an accurate picture of all that goes on at the University of Oregon.”
Leander stressed the impact of factors that are unaccounted for by the graduation rate formula.
Student Athlete Services Associate Director Gary Gray also noted the exclusion of certain factors.
He said results may have been skewed by the small size of the cohort, as well as circumstances that may affect the number of students who remain at the University long enough to graduate. Instead, the study should concentrate on “students who are going to be with us long enough to graduate.”
The document does note that “graduation rates are affected by a number of factors,” an issue that is addressed by the Graduation-Success Rate (GSR).
The GSR takes into account many factors that lower the actual graduation rate percentage. For instance, when a student-athlete transfers from the University before acquiring a degree, that student counts against the graduation rate. Even if the athlete goes on to get his or her degree at another university, the graduation rate counts the athlete as a non-graduate.
The University’s student-athlete GSR is 72 percent. That’s quite a bit higher than the University’s student-athlete graduation rate, but still four percent lower than the national GSR.
Leander pointed to the University GSR’s validity because of the negative impact transferring student-athletes have on the graduation rate.
“A lot of times student-athletes are as motivated in the classroom as they are on the field,” she said. She said the data is “hopefully an anomaly.”
Gray noted student-athlete support services’ effort to reach students.
“Probably the most challenging thing is convincing a student they can be a good student and a good athlete,” he said. “In my experience students who are serious about graduating here, graduate.”
Nagle suggested lax enthusiasm as a possible cause of the low graduation rate.
“A lot of athletes don’t really want to go to school,” she said, “they just want to play a sport.”
Nagle praised student-athlete support services for helpful tutoring, advising and study hall, which she called a “good resource.”
The SSA at McArthur Court works with student athletes at the University, providing major and class advising and tutoring. Its main objective is to see to it that athletes adhere to the rules set forth by the NCAA devised to guarantee student-athlete academic progress.
The NCAA took additional initiative to improve the student-athlete graduation situation.
In order to encourage student-athlete graduation, the NCAA implemented the Academic Progress Rate (APR), a move that could have serious implications for University athletes.
The APR, which measures the academic performance of athletes, was developed to provide a more accurate, real time “snapshot” of a team’s academic success. It also serves as a primary measurement on which incentives and disincentives will be based, according to the NCAA Backgrounder on Academic Reform.
If a group were to score below the requirement on the APR, the NCAA may restrict the number of scholarships awarded to the athletic team.
Last year, the Oregon football team found itself in that situation. According to the NCAA Division I 2004-05 Academic Progress Rate Public Report, the team scored a 900 on the APR, which is 25 points below the required score. The team avoided the penalty by vowing to score at least a 930 the following year. The team has since achieved that goal.
Both Gray and Nagle called upon the student-athletes to take this matter into their own hands.
“We can try to inspire them and stuff to be good students, but it also has to come from them,” Nagle said.
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