8% Graduation Rate???

[jbusc]

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It doesn’t matter tha UMaryland has a smarter than average student body, their BB players (and those at most DI schools) couldn’t make it at a third or fourth or seventh rate school. They are set up for failure and the NCAA doesn’t care.

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<p>Not to dispute that, but there is some evidence that if they did care, a lot of players could make it through.</p>

<p>For example, at Fresno State, which last decade had the worst graduation rate in football in the country (literally, ranked last), managed to dig out of that pit to get somewhat respectable:</p>

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[University</a> Of Southern California Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/baxter_john00.html]University”>http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/baxter_john00.html)
Along with his coaching duties at Fresno State, Baxter developed the highly-successful and nationally-regarded program, “Academic Gameplan.” His innovative and comprehensive study-skills program teaches students the rules, fundamentals, techniques and life skills needed to succeed in the classroom. “Academic Gameplan,” which is now being used at schools throughout the country, was a key reason for the academic success of the Fresno State football program, which during Baxter’s tenure produced 141 Academic All-WAC players and an NCAA APR score nearly 20 percentage points higher than the national average.

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<p>Sure, it’s “Fresno State” and their graduation rate could still be higher, but it’s worth pointing out that Cal football also adopted this program (with some success also), and I’m happy to hear that the creator of this program (John Baxter) was just hired at USC.</p>

<p>At minimum, a lot of these terrible graduation rates and APR scores could come up a bit, if only the programs cared about it.</p>