NCAA AIMS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES
A landmark academic reform package has been designed to dramatically strengthen the educational results of student-athletes and holds universities and sports teams accountable was unanimously approved today by the NCAA Division One Board of Directors.
The Board also approved a number of “student-athlete-friendly” measures related to the cost of attendance, medical expenses and summer financial aid.
Brand praised Division One college and university chancellors and presidents for their leadership in leading the groundbreaking academic reform package, which sets out 2 types of penalties.
1st, contemporaneous penalties, such as the loss of a scholarship for 1 year if a student-athlete on scholarship leaves school in poor academic standing, are expected to begin in 2005-06. The Board of Directors will review in 2 years whether the contemporaneous penalties need to be made stronger.
2nd, historical penalties associated with academic failure over time may also include scholarship reductions; recruiting limitations; ineligibility for NCAA team postseason or preseason competition, including bowl games and NCAA championships; and, in the most extreme cases, restricted membership status for the school in the NCAA. These penalties would begin in 3 years, rather than 4 as originally proposed.
An academic-progress rate, or APR, will be calculated by the NCAA and include all scholarship student-athletes entering an university. The package also will establish a graduation-success rate based on a 6 year timeframe for graduation and including all scholarship student-athletes entering the college.
NCAA rule change. Athletes must now be placed on the Institutional Request List IRL.