Racial disparities persist in graduation rates among bowl-bound players

Editor’s note: Richard Lapchik is a human rights activist, racial equality pioneer, sports issues expert, scholar, and author.

Now that the University of Michigan has won the National College Football Championship, it’s time to reflect on the academic success of our student-athletes. Will they get the education they need to succeed in life?

I’ve been writing about this for over 40 years. Things have gotten much better over the last few years. Various academic reforms were helpful. In 2022, overall academic performance for college football student-athletes reached an all-time high. This rate remained unchanged in 2023.

However, when it comes to overall football graduation rates, the average gap between white and black football student-athletes widened across the 82 bowl-bound schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). This has been my biggest concern over the 40 years we’ve been following this. The findings were reported in a study, “Keeping Scores That Matter: Assessing the Academic Records of 2022-23 Bowl-Bound College Football Teams,” published Tuesday by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES). DeVos Sports Business Management Graduate Program at the University of Central Florida. I served as director of both until my retirement in August 2023.

TIDES Director Adrian Boucher, lead author of the study, said academic success for FBS football student-athletes, as measured by Graduation Success Rate (GSR), remains the same as in 2022 at 83%.

“The gap between white and black football student-athletes has widened a little this year, so it continues to be a big issue,” Boucher said. “This year, the difference is 13.2%, up from 11.6% last year. Among the 82 bowl-bound teams, the average GSR for Black football student-athletes is 79.3%, down slightly from 79.5% in 2022. .The average GSR for whites is 79.3%.Soccer student-athletes increased from 91% in 2022 to 92.5% in 2023.”

For the past 10 days, football fans and pundits have focused on the four schools competing for the national championship: Alabama, Michigan, Washington and Texas. Alabama (93%), Michigan (89%), and Washington (84%) had high graduation rates, while Texas had a low graduation rate (75%).

With the exception of Texas, each state had disparities between white and black football student-athletes, but they all outperformed the national disparity. Graduation rates for black football student-athletes were 92% at the University of Alabama, 88% at the University of Michigan, 81% at the University of Washington, and 68% at the University of Texas, compared to 94% and 100% for white football student-athletes. %, 95%, 92% and 92% respectively. Texas’ 24 percentage point difference is nearly double the national average of 13.2 percentage points.

The average national academic progress rate (APR) for bowl-bound teams was 71%. He had strong APRs at all four schools, with Texas once again lagging behind the others. The four schools had APRs of 995 for Alabama, 987 for Michigan, 986 for Washington, and 974 for Texas.

There were some very alarming statistics for the entire field of bowl teams.

• 82 schools (100%) had a GSR of 70% or higher for white football student-athletes, approximately 1.2 times the number of schools with a comparable GSR for black football student-athletes (69 or 84.1%).

• In 2023, five bowl-bound teams had a GSR for Black football student-athletes that was at least 30 percentage points lower than the GSR for White football student-athletes.

• In 2023, 22% of bowl-bound schools (18 schools total) had a GSR that was at least 20 percentage points lower than the percentage of white football student-athletes.

• Eight schools had an APR below 950, which was 21 points below the national average for these teams. New Mexico had the lowest score at 916. It was the first time his APR for a bowl-bound school was below the minimum score of 930 points. Of the eight schools, three of his were SEC schools: LSU at No. 946, Tennessee, and Texas A&M at No. 949.

• There were nine schools where the GSR for Black football student-athletes exceeded the GSR for white football student-athletes, two more than in 2022: Wyoming, Auburn, UTSA, Louisiana, Arkansas State, Rice, Oregon State and Boston College. , Northwestern.

Arne Duncan, former Secretary of Education in President Barack Obama’s administration and former co-chair of the Intercollegiate Knight Committee, said, “It is important that student-athletes graduate and receive an education for a full and meaningful life.” We must not lose sight of gender.” Athletics. ” [transfer] While the Portal and NIL welcome the support of student-athletes’ aspirations and needs, the path to a meaningful education is complicated to some degree. We need to make arrangements for them to receive a meaningful education. ”

The APR was created in 2004 to measure the success of current student-athletes. It is also expected to lead to improved graduation rates. We examine the academic success of individual teams and set a minimum goal of 930 points and a 50% graduation rate. Failure to meet that standard may result in loss of scholarship and/or ineligibility to participate in postseason competition.

In addition to a team’s current year APR, a rolling four-year APR is also used to determine liability.

This postseason eligibility system was implemented in the 2012-13 school year, and the original threshold was 900, which roughly equated to a 40% graduation rate. In three years, the benchmark changed from 900 to 930. To participate in postseason competition, a team must achieve a four-year average APR of 930 or a two-year average APR of 940 to participate in the championship. This roughly equates to a 50% graduation rate.

The average APR for bowl-bound FBS schools in the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, and SEC) was 974.2. This was 8.8 points higher than the average score of 965.4 points for bowl-bound schools in Group 5 conferences (American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt). This is a significant increase from the average 1.4 percentage point difference in 2022 between Power 5 conferences with an average APR of 970.0 and Group of 5 conferences with an average APR of 968.6.

Bowl-bound schools in the Big Ten had the highest average APR of all FBS conferences, and the AAC had the highest average GSR for Black football student-athletes of all FBS conferences.

I have been a longtime supporter of the work of the Drake Group, perhaps the most important reform group in college sports. They strongly support the use of the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR), which was developed in 2002, in place of the GSR. I believe her GSR is a more fair standard. FGR does not take into account transfer students who leave one school in good academic standing and graduate at another university. FGR also does not count her junior year, who transfers to and graduates from a four-year university. It also does not include former student-athletes who returned and graduated more than six years after their initial enrollment. GSR takes these factors into account and, from my point of view, is a better way to fairly measure results.

When looking at the percentage of student-athletes from 2018 to 2021 using FGR, graduation rates are 18 to 35 percentage points higher than using FGR. This wide variation reflects sport, race, and gender in DI revenue sports.

I remain concerned that with all the dramatic changes in college sports, from the NIL to the transfer portal, we are losing sight of the scholarship of college sports. How can an athlete receive a sufficient education if she plays for four different schools in four years? That should be the responsibility of the school, not the student-athlete.

I have been advocating for years to raise the APR baseline from 930 (or the equivalent of 50% GSR) to 960 (approximately 60% GSR). Only eight of this year’s 80 bowl teams fell short of that standard, the highest number in recent years. The average GSR for the 82 teams is 83%, which is 33% higher than if the standard were 950.

Michigan State and Washington State competed for the national championship. We can celebrate that and the fact that they got there with great academic performance. His GSR in them was 89% and 84% respectively. And the APR was 987 and 986 respectively. His GSR for their Black football student-athletes was 88% and 81%, with a difference of 3% and 1% for White and Black athletes, respectively. Their records stand out against two of the athletic directors I most respect, Ward Manuel at the University of Michigan and Jenn, who was at UW from 2016 until taking over as AD at USC in October 2023. Not surprising considering it has been led by Cohen.

It is possible, but only if we focus on the student-athlete. I’m so happy that they now have a paycheck and a freedom they never had before. I have supported both for many years. But the ultimate prize here is a degree that will serve them and their families for the rest of their lives.

Richard E. Lapchik recently retired as director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida. He is the author of his 17 books and the annual Race and Gender Report Card, and director of the Institute for Sport and Social Justice. He is a regular commentator on his ESPN.com about diversity issues in sports. Follow him on Twitter @richardlapchick and on Facebook.