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Tarleton student-athlete graduation rates score higher than traditional students
Jim Looby
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Sports
Tarleton State University student-athletes graduate at the second highest rate among Division II schools in the Lone Star Conference, but lag behind the national average, according to a National Collegiate Athletic Association report.
Sixty percent of the student-athletes in the report, all of whom received financial aid, graduate within six years of enrolling at Tarleton, the report shows. Nationally, 69 percent of athletes in the study graduate within six years.
By comparison, less than half - 45.8 percent - of non-athlete Tarleton students on financial aid graduate within six years.
Some factors that may contribute to the athletes' higher rate are a mandatory study hall, encouragement by coaches to sit closer to the front of classrooms, and enhanced financial aid, several student athletes say.
A Tarleton administrator said while the numbers leave a lot of room for improvement, they are not any worse than those at similar universities.
"Obviously we'd like that (graduation rate) number to be 100 percent," said Dr. Dwayne Snider, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. "However, if you look at other universities comparable to our size, you'll find that 46 percent is not uncommon."
The NCAA calculates graduation rates based on the number of students who enter a college or university in relation to the number who graduate within six years. The report focuses on student-athletes on financial aid in any of the following categories; football, men's basketball, baseball, men's track and cross country, other men's sports and mixed sports, women's basketball, women's track and cross country and other women's sports.
Wide Receiver Eric Foreman, a senior at Tarleton, says coaches encourage classroom attendance by linking it to financial aid.
"If we are not in our classes and our coaches do an attendance check, we could lose some of our scholarship money," Foreman said. "That definitely will make me get up and get to class."
Sixty percent of the student-athletes in the report, all of whom received financial aid, graduate within six years of enrolling at Tarleton, the report shows. Nationally, 69 percent of athletes in the study graduate within six years.
By comparison, less than half - 45.8 percent - of non-athlete Tarleton students on financial aid graduate within six years.
Some factors that may contribute to the athletes' higher rate are a mandatory study hall, encouragement by coaches to sit closer to the front of classrooms, and enhanced financial aid, several student athletes say.
A Tarleton administrator said while the numbers leave a lot of room for improvement, they are not any worse than those at similar universities.
"Obviously we'd like that (graduation rate) number to be 100 percent," said Dr. Dwayne Snider, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. "However, if you look at other universities comparable to our size, you'll find that 46 percent is not uncommon."
The NCAA calculates graduation rates based on the number of students who enter a college or university in relation to the number who graduate within six years. The report focuses on student-athletes on financial aid in any of the following categories; football, men's basketball, baseball, men's track and cross country, other men's sports and mixed sports, women's basketball, women's track and cross country and other women's sports.
Wide Receiver Eric Foreman, a senior at Tarleton, says coaches encourage classroom attendance by linking it to financial aid.
"If we are not in our classes and our coaches do an attendance check, we could lose some of our scholarship money," Foreman said. "That definitely will make me get up and get to class."
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