Easier College Admission for Athletes Sparks a Review by NCAA

By Curtis Eichelberger

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- The longstanding practice at U.S. colleges of admitting athletes with substandard academic credentials is coming under fresh scrutiny.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has launched a review that might limit the number of these so-called special admits. At the University of Oklahoma, which just completed a four-year review of admissions, Athletic Director Joe Castiglione says some students read only at a fifth-grade level.

For years, football and basketball players have lagged other students in graduation rates. Coaches, administrators and faculty have wrestled with the sometimes conflicting goals of creating winning teams and well-educated students. Now, special admits may become the focus of efforts to reconcile the two.

The category includes students with skills such as playing the violin, though athletes like those able to sack a quarterback have been prominent beneficiaries.

``Sports are an important part of the psyche of our institution,'' says Castiglione. ``It's not to be made fun of or laughed at, it's to be embraced. But we have to work on some things.''

At the University of California at Berkeley, more than 90 percent of freshman athletes admitted during the 2005-2006 academic year were accepted on the basis of ``unique athletic skills'' because their test scores weren't competitive with other applicants, according to admissions records.

The data, obtained through open-records laws, show that 158 of 243 athletes met the school's minimum standards but wouldn't have been admitted if they hadn't been athletes. And 79 others needed approval from a special athletic admissions committee because they didn't meet the school's minimums.

Lower SAT Scores

Non-athletes accepted because of unique skills averaged 2035 out of 2400 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test and had a 3.81 grade- point average out of 4.0, the records show. Athletes in the same category averaged 1710 on the SAT and a 3.3 grade-point average.

``Coaches have identified student athletes that they are interested in recruiting,'' says Walter Robinson, Cal-Berkeley's director of undergraduate admissions. ``We will take a closer look. If they have excelled in their area of expertise and they bring academic credentials we believe indicate they will be successful, there is a possibility they will be selected.''

Such policies risk eroding the reputations of the nation's top universities, says Larry Faulkner, president emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin.

``It goes to the heart of what is the intercollegiate model and what business we are in,'' Faulkner says. ``Our institutions don't exist principally to provide entertainment to the public.''

Ceiling on Admits

Faulkner is a member of an NCAA task force on admissions that called in October for a review of the special-admit system. NCAA officials might recommend changes within 18 to 24 months, says Myles Brand, president of the Indianapolis-based sports governing body. Rules changes would require the assent of the body's 18-member board of directors.

Among the possible steps, according to the task force: setting a maximum number of special admits per team or athletic department, adding programs to monitor and assist students, and collecting information on the progress of special admits who are athletes so the data can be submitted to faculty boards.

Brand, 64, says he doesn't support limiting special admits, so long as athletes have a chance to graduate once they're given assistance. Yet Brand says the NCAA doesn't track graduation rates for specially admitted athletes and doesn't know of any school that does so.

`A Student First'

University administrators agree with Faulkner, in principle, when he says ``the athlete is a student first.'' Even so, they say schools must meet the needs of the communities they serve. Fans, alumni and financial supporters care about sports, says Tom Reason, associate director of admissions at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

``Athletes are a group that has been identified as important to the institution and to society,'' Reason says. ``You can't deny the reality of it.''

At the University of California-Los Angeles, 65 percent of 435 freshmen admitted with athletic scholarships from 2003 to 2006 were accepted on the basis of their sports skills because their test scores weren't competitive with other applicants, according to admissions records.

Data from private institutions aren't available, as they're not bound by open-records laws.

In the most recent federal report on graduation rates, compiled from figures submitted to the government, 62 percent of UCLA athletes graduated over a four-year period compared with 87 percent for the student body.

Football, Basketball Lag

At Cal-Berkeley, it was 67 percent for athletes and 86 percent for the student body.

Nationally, all athletes at Division I-A schools -- those with the biggest sports programs -- graduate at the same rate as the student body, 63 percent, according to the latest data. For football players, the rate is 55 percent and for basketball it's 40 percent.

``There is a value judgment that we are going to participate in athletics, and that we will recruit students who have a good or reasonable chance of succeeding here, in order to be competitive in the NCAA,'' says Tom Lifka, UCLA's assistant vice chancellor for student academic services. ``That decision is made at the highest level here -- ultimately by the chancellor.''

Administrators argue that without special admits, it would be difficult to compete in sports against schools that have lower academic standards.

`Never Happen'

``We couldn't compete if we stopped taking special admits and no one else did,'' says Oklahoma's Castiglione, 50. ``Everyone would have to stop at the same time, and we'd all have to have the same admission standards, and that will never happen.''

Oklahoma has been increasing the number of special admits given to its football, baseball and women's track and field teams, according to admissions records. Castiglione says the athletic department is trying to improve its 60 percent graduation rate.

As part of its admissions overhaul, the school has started criminal background checks, created an academic review committee of faculty, and checked class attendance -- 50,000 sessions were monitored in the fall. It is now pushing student-athletes to complete 30 semester hours a year to keep on track toward graduation.

``We admit them and then find out they are testing in the fifth- and sixth-grade reading levels,'' Castiglione says. ``I'm not saying they can't read, just not at a high enough level.''

`Accept the Reality'

He declined to say how many are reading at a fifth-grade level, adding that there are ``more than there should be.''

Students with below-average admissions scores and good football skills have benefited the Sooners. Oklahoma finished last season ranked 11th in the country in the media and coaches' polls.

Some schools are reducing the number of special admits.

The athletic department at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, had 18 special admits this academic year, down from 59 in 2001-2002.

``In an ideal world, you might wonder if we wouldn't be better off getting rid of athletic scholarships, then it would really just be about going to school,'' Wisconsin's Reason says.

``But things have evolved in a way that's dramatically different. You have to accept the reality of it and help the kids the best you can.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Curtis Eichelberger in Washington at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 20, 2007 00:11 EDT

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