Gallup/NCAA Study of Former College Athletes

A lot of kids start college who don’t belong there due to parental and peer pressure. They don’t last more than a year. Only 41% of freshmen graduate in four years. Only 59% graduate in six. I’ll bet the number doesn’t get much higher no matter how long they take. Most athletes will use their four years of eligibility whether it’s in their first or second college. It gets them to graduation or close enough that they finish. 

So, the benefit is their passion for their sport keeps,them academically involved enough to pass and graduate.

i’m not sure what the number is now.**  But back when Doug Glanville was playing for the Phillies he was one of only sixteen MLBers with a college degree. It makes sense. Most MLBers signed out of high school or left college after three years. It’s the players who sign and don’t make the majors who go back to college. They likely need the degree to be eligible to coach in high school or college. 

When I hired sales people I was partial to athletes and military people due to their determination, work ethic and motivation.

** When I googled, the information on the first page went back to 2012. 

The results don't surprise me.  I'd like to see the numbers broken out by sport though.  In particular, I wonder how football and basketball athletes at major athletic conferences fare vs. other athletes, and vs. the general student body.  The academic situation in the big-money sports seems to have improved in recent years, so maybe there is no difference.  It would be interesting to see the data.

It doesn't surprise me as there are people on top of the student athletes nonstop that is not the case with regular kids.  If a kid starts struggling in a class, there is somebody who will bug them.  As a faculty member, I get pinged all the time on how the student athletes do.  I wish there was a system in place for regular students like that..... Oh well.

@Viking0 posted:

It doesn't surprise me as there are people on top of the student athletes nonstop that is not the case with regular kids.  If a kid starts struggling in a class, there is somebody who will bug them.  As a faculty member, I get pinged all the time on how the student athletes do.  I wish there was a system in place for regular students like that..... Oh well.

There is one fraternity on my campus that requires pledges to give them permission to get academic progress reports from profs during the semester.  I know nothing else about the organization and whether it is a net positive for its members; but it does seem to help motivate underclassmen to keep up with school work.

@RJM posted:

i’m not sure what the number is now.**  But back when Doug Glanville was playing for the Phillies he was one of only sixteen MLBers with a college degree. 

And a pretty good degree at that.  Glanville was an Ivy Leaguer - University of Pennsylvania.