A Comparative Study Of The Grade Point Averages Of Male Student Athletes Participating In Intercollegiate Sports At California State College During The 1971 72 And 1972 73 Academic Years

This paper analyzed men's and women's athletic team's grade point averages while in-season versus out-of-season. The study used data from the athletic teams at Worcester State College, an NCAA Division III institution. The research question was: Is there a difference in overall GPA for men's and women's athletic teams while in season versus out of season? The researcher used a t-test to determine whether there was a signficant difference over the academic years 1996-2005, 2006-2007, and 2008-2009. Fourteen of the sixteen athletic teams included in the study found no significant difference between in-season and out-of-season GPA. The two sports in which a significant difference was found were men's football and men's baseball. This thesis paper concludes with recommendations for future research which include comparing athletic departments of institutions that participate in the same NCAA division.

The purpose of this study was three-fold. The first purpose was to examine if there was a difference in the academic success of 239 first-year student-athletes between the type of institution they attended, public or private. These student-athletes represented 12 intercollegiate varsity sports at two NCAA Division I institutions in the Midwest during the 2007-2009 academic years, and the study used the five pre-college predictor variables of NCAA GPA, standardized test scores, gender, race, and institution type. The second purpose was to determine which of these predictor variables were statistically significant in predicting academic success of student-athletes by sport. The third purpose was to predict how well these predictor variables could distinguish between student-athletes attending the public institution and student-athletes attending the private institution. The study found that student-athletes at the private institution entered the institution with a better overall academic profile than did the student-athletes at the public institution as related to the predictor variables of high school GPA, NCAA GPA, ACT scores, SAT scores, and first-year college cumulative GPA. The statistically significant relationships between the predictors variables correlated between r = .94 and r = .17. Several stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict first-year academic success. The study concluded that, when ACT and SAT scores are included, separately, in the model with the predictor variables, then NCAA GPA, ACT scores, gender, and race are statistically significant predictors for student-athletes attending the public institution, while NCAA GPA and ACT scores are statistically significant predictors for student-athletes attending the private institution. NCAA GPA, SAT scores, and gender are statistically significant predictors for student-athletes attending the public institution, and NCAA GPA and SAT scores are statistically significant predictors for student-athletes attending the private institution. Together, these findings suggest that Non-White female student-athletes are predicted to have a higher first-year cumulative GPA than any other student-athlete at the public institution when ACT scores are added to the model, and female student-athletes are predicted to have a higher first-year cumulative GPA than any other student-athlete when SAT scores are added to the model. A stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to predict how well the predictor variables distinguish between the public and private institutions. Based on the findings, NCAA GPA, standardized test scores, and race are the statistically significant variables in the model. Overall, 66.9% of the student-athletes in the study were classified correctly into public and private institution. The student-athletes attending the public institution were classified with slightly better accuracy (67.9%) than the student-athletes attending the private institution (66.2%).

This monograph focuses on the virtually ignored issues of the academic problems of high school athletes. All the problems of college sport exist at the high school level. For example, "redshirting" occurs when a school has an athlete sit out a year so that the athlete can mature physically and have four years of eligiblity. This problem exists in the secondary grades as well as in colleges. The ramifications of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Proposition 48 are discussed as they have an impact on students at both high school and college level. The legal aspects of "No Pass No Play" policies in Texas and other areas are discussed. Recommendations are made for higher academic requirements for talented student athletes. Current state academic requirements for athletes are listed and references are included. (JD)