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Among top teams, the graduation rate of student-athletes is very low

ORLANDO
As the United States becomes engrossed in the NCAA basketball playoffs, a new report casts a different light on college basketball, noting that the top teams fail to graduate the majority of their players.

ABC News reports that a study from the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport claims that North Carolina was the only school among the four number-one seeds in the NCAA men’s tournament to graduate at least 50 percent of its players — with 86 percent receiving their diplomas. The other top teams were far behind: 45 percent of players actually graduated from Kansas and 40 percent from UCLA and Memphis.

Of the 64 schools that received an invitation to the tourney, only 41 teams graduated at least half their basketball student-athletes, reports the Charlotte Observer. But of those 64 schools, some had very high rates, with Western Kentucky averaging 100 percent, and Davidson, Notre Dame, and Purdue at 91 percent, according to the paper.

According to a summary of the study from the San Diego Union-Tribune, women’s teams in the tourney performed much better, with almost all of the 64 invited teams graduating at least 60 percent of their players.

The study was based on data from a recent six-year period.

Sources: ABC, Mar. 21 — Charlotte Observer, Mar. 20 — San Diego Union-Tribune, Mar. 19 — University of Central Florida College of Business Administration, Mar. 18 — New York Times, Mar. 11.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 6, 2007 — Related Newsline story, May 21, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 21, 2006 — Related Newsline story, June 14, 2004 — Related Newsline story, May 3, 2004.