Major Findings from the Preliminary Analyses of the

NCAA GOALS and SCORE Studies

March, 2007

Findings on Current Student-Athletes (GOALS)

Time Commitment Issues

• Across the board, student-athletes report spending more time in academic pursuits than reported in the 1987 AIR report.

• Athletic time demands on males in Olympic sports and on females appear to have increased relative to those of football and men’s basketball players (vs. 1987 AIR study).

• In general, men’s baseball players stand out as having an imbalance in time devoted to athletics versus academics.

• Many student-athletes report spending similar time on athletics out-of-season as they do in-season. However, many (especially males) want to spend even more time on sports than they currently do.

Academic Engagement Issues

• S-As are at least as engaged as their non-athlete counterparts – this may be especially true of females.

• S-As are generally happy with their faculty relationships, but a majority feel that some faculty treat them differently (both positively and negatively) because they are athletes.

• Younger S-As are more likely to be aware of and use support services than older S-As.

• Many current S-As believe their GPA would be higher if they were not competing in intercollegiate athletics.

Findings on Former Student-Athletes (SCORE)

Academic Success of Former Division I Student-Athletes

• Accounting for the varied timelines and academic pathways of student-athletes, we can report a 10-year student-centered graduation rate of 88% for 1994 entering freshman student-athletes in Division I. Of these student-athletes, 62% graduated from the institution of initial enrollment, and another 26% graduated elsewhere.

• The student-athlete graduation rate is relatively high in all sub-groups studied.

• GSR remains a better estimate of a student-centered graduation rate as compared to the federal methodology, but both rates underestimate true student-athlete academic success.

Academic-Athletic Experience of Former Division I Student-Athletes

• Former student-athletes in Division I are very positive about most aspects of the college experience.

• SAs who completed the BA degree are more positive in most cases (94% vs 69%), especially about the academic experiences, academic advisors, the development of study skills, and time management.

• Some academic-athletic problems reported deal with the time required, courses required, and the need to choose a major other than the first choice.

College Majors and Occupational Outcomes

• Former student-athletes were slightly more likely to major in business (+3%) and social sciences (+6%) than non-athlete students. They were slightly less likely to major in science, math and engineering (-6%).

• 91% of former student-athletes report having full-time jobs (+11% greater than their non-athlete counterparts).

• The income levels for student-athletes appear to be similar or higher than those in the comparison cohort.

• 89% of former student-athletes believe that the skills and values they learned from college athletics helped them in getting their current job.