The NCAA, sports and education

Bear with me here.

Lots of time is spent here regarding discussion about the NCAA, new baseball rules, and recently, does it matter where you attend undergraduate school.
As far as the new rules regarding baseball, there are many here that feel that they are unfair and I often think, why? I may be off base, but my conclusion is that most of our players (whether you want to admit it or not) who attend college do so with the thought that it may further our sons career as professional baseball players, not as productive educated adults after they graduate. I don't find this among parents of basketball or football players, or any other sport for that matter. I may be off base, but it seems to push a lot of buttons for parents, the unfairness of not being able to transfer, small scholarships, etc.
Someone pointed something out recently, if you want a full ride, MLB gladly pays.
Everyone has different reasons for attending college, but sometimes we lose sight of the real PURPOSE of going to college. To further ones education AND get a degree.
My husband, a graduate in art education with a masters in art design, is one of those who never stops going to school for one reason or another. A certified trainer, financial planner and Registered Investment Advisor also spends a lot of his free time in developing products or ideas and recently in a project that has involved contact with young business entrepreneurs. These entreprenuers are all graduates and most with masters degrees. All have attended different types of programs, smallest to largest and many in between. The one thing that they all have in common, they all used their athletic skills to help them to get admitted to school and help pay for their education, from baseball, to football, to golf to track and field. Their degrees vary from education, business to engineering to graphic design to health science. All are employed. All under 25.Some still involved with their sport in other capacities other than professionals, one former baseball player a marathon runner. Some went in with hopes that maybe they would become professional athletes, but most realized very shortly that was a long shot and concentrated on what they felt was most important, obtaining their degree. They all claim, if it were not for the NCAA that they doubt they would have gotten into the school they preferred, any school or had to take another alternative due to finances with the rising cost of education. All extremely talented, some also struggled in college at first.
Why am I bringing this up? IMO, I don't think that parents really understand this. They seem to be more concerned that their player doesn't get enough playing time, and often encourage their players to make a change, which in turn creates a shortage, which means they lose credits which further puts them back on track to graduation. I do admit it is nice to have that choice, unfortunetly with the lack of transfer rules in place, graduation expections fell further and further which forced the NCAA to impose those rules. The working groups philososphy, go to school to get an education and plan to graduate or go play pro ball. The examples above prove that participating in a sport will help you, but the object is to GRADUATE.
I do understand at this time that son does not have his degree, however he is almost there, with money from MLB to finish the task. That does make it a lot easier. Did we send our player to school to improve his chances to play beyond college, yes and no. Yes because that was his choice and no because we wanted him to have the total college experience and work towards a degree in case he needed it someday. No you do not need a degree to be successful, but in this competitive world and the need to make more $$, that degree helps. My daughter has a great job with a great company, because she is not have a degree her earning potential is lower than those that do.
Has it worked out for son (college before proball), who can say yes or no at this time, some think yes, maybe not, he has a long way to go yet in his life before the jury is in. The one good thing, for him, IMO, is that he can return and in one year or less finish the job he went to college for.
My purpose of this thread, let's stop bashing the NCAA and understand their purpose. Let's stop bashing what school is better than another, that's a personal decision and all have their own opinions but never lose sight of why you are headed in that direction, to get an education. Understand that some people, though we don't all agree, have different priorities and opinions. Present your opinions in a helpful way, not harmful. Accept your son's experience for what it is and should be, no matter where he goes. If you feel that baseball gets in the way (missing classes, etc) then why is your son playing baseball and going to college at teh same time, let him decide what is more important and stop complaining, most likely he IS able to handle all that is on his plate, but we as parents, because we are worry warts can't. Sit back and enjoy your son's accomplishments on the field in the classroom, ot just on the field or just in the classroom. and accept what the purpose of attending XYZ university is all about. If your son has no desire to handle both at the same time, don't let him do it, then let him go off to play pro ball if he gets the opportunity because it is going to be very challenging regardless of where he decides to attend. The happiest player is the one that knows he made a good choice for himself and never looks back, no matter where he ends up. Stop obssesing that you feel your son is better than his options given, chances are they are not,or you haven't done your homework, stop obsessing he may be too small, too heavy, stop obsessing that his dream D1 didn't sign him, stop obsessing he doesn't throw 90 or hit a dozen HR's per year. Stop obsessing that only one scout stepped into your home and the neighbor had all 30 teams. Only control what you can and what you cannot.

The purpose of this post, just to illustrate how important any sport can be in determing your career future, no matter which one you play, that the whole purpose of this recruiting process why we send out kids off to tournies and showcases and shouldn't always be to become a future pro athlete but to help further your education and should be approached as such and whatever else comes along is bonus to your future. I am thinking back to what Jerry said, if you choose to go to college to solely further your baseball career, that may not be the right decision.
This is the way I look at it, if your son gets drafted or signs and decides to go play proball, and is not happy, sits the bench, gets injured he has NO options to transfer. He can beg for a release, hope he gets picked up somewhere else, and can get cut at anytime. He is owned, he has no say in anything until, in 6 years he can become a FA. If he is lucky and wants out, he may get traded, but do know that bad players don't get traded, good players do. I don't hear anyone complaining much about that system.
Consider all options and try to define goals, while you can, not when you can't.