<p>Lets look at some FACTS about student athletes base on available NCAA data? But first a question, which category of colleges do you think fare worse, DivI, DivII or DivIII; public or private?</p>
<p>Drumroll please-here are the agregate statistics</p>
<p>Division I Public:All student graduation rate= 55%
Student athlete graduation rate=56%</p>
<p>Division I Private:All student graduation rate= 73%
Student athlete graduation rate=71%</p>
<p>Division II Public:All student graduation rate= 43%
Student athlete graduation rate=49%</p>
<p>Division II Private:All student graduation rate= 50%
Student athlete graduation rate=54%</p>
<p>Division III Public:All student graduation rate= 48%
Student athlete graduation rate=50%</p>
<p>Division III Private:All student graduation rate= 68%
Student athlete graduation rate=51%</p>
<p>The data indicate that at most colleges, student athletes, based on graduation rates, perform as well or slightly better academically than the overall student body. The only exception is at private Div III colleges where graduation rates of student athletes lag the all student graduation rate by 17%</p>
<p>So much for conventional wisdom!</p>
<p>Having said that, football and basket ball participants have historically underperformed in the classroom. However they make up a relatively small percentage of the total number of student athletes. And consider this, take them out of the mix and the remainder of the student athletes have even higher graduation rates relative to the overall student body.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider, at my beloved alma mater OSU there are less than 600 student athletes representing less than 2% of the overall student body. A college like Williams has a like number of student athletes represention more than 30% of the student body. While some may claim that the Williams SA’s are more representative of the overall student body, they should read “The Game of Life” which presents data indicating that the deleterious effects of athletics is in fact more profound at colleges such as Williams.</p>