NCAA Graduation Rates for Football and Basketball

I for one have a huge issue with some of the numbers that have come out on the Graduation Rates of our college athletes in the sports of basketball and football. In an article by Steve Megargee a national writer for Rivals.Com, it is reported that the rates of the two programs are slightly improving. I do not see how a school with the following graduation rates in football can be allowed to continue to function without a stronger penalty.

• Arizona - 41%
• Georgia - 41%
• Oklahoma - 44%
• San Jose State - 36%
• Texas - 42%

We are not living up to our fiduciary responsibility to our student athletes by allowing them to have the college experience and not preparing them of the world after college athletics. Only one tenth of one percent make it to the NFL. What does that mean for the more than an average of 54% of young student athletes that are not prepared for the real world? Who is responsible? What should the penalty be? One scholarship is not enough. One scholarship compared to more than half of the athletes not graduating is not an equitable exchange.


We wish to punish schools for allowing the alumni to give money to young athletes to attend the school, but we do not punish the school for having sub par graduation standards. Where is the moral and ethical responsibility to the young student athletes the parents entrust to the universities? The billions of dollars these schools make from these sports and not using that money to help the student athletes to be the best that they can be inside and outside of the athletic arena is the true violation that needs to be punished and a new standard established instead of the lip service being paid today. Miles Brand stated that, "That's very laudable," he said. "It is a high-percentage increase. Nonetheless, men's basketball still is the lowest of our sports in terms of graduation rate. We will need to work on that sport in order to bring up men's basketball to reach the benchmarks." in reference to the increase in the graduation rate. He would like to see a 60% national average. Why are we advocating sub par performance in the graduation rates if we do not except sub par performance from our, banks, businesses, government or other entities in our lives? The schools like those "On the other end of the spectrum, football programs with GSR at 90 or above were Air Force (92), Boston College (93), Duke (93), Navy (95), Northwestern (94), Notre Dame (93), Stanford (93), Vanderbilt (91) and Wake Forest (90)" and "Major men's basketball programs from the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 or Southeastern conferences that posted GSRs at 90 or above included two-time defending national champion Florida (100), Florida State (100), Notre Dame (91) and Purdue (91)." should be made the standard and benchmarks that all schools should aspire to. 


Our student athletes deserve better and the communities as a whole who are waiting for their student athletes to return as productive working professionals deserve better.