Are Athletes Also Students? The Educational Attainment of College Athletes

Abstract

Though the educational attainment of college athletes has become a major concern in the United States, there has been little research on the relationship between participation in college sports and educational attainment. We studied more than two thousand athletes over 10 years at a major western university and found that athletes were less prepared for college and achieved less academically in college than the general student population. All athletes did not perform equally, however. Scholarship holders, blacks, and participants in the major revenue-producing sports of football and basketball had the poorest academic potential and performance.