National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News Features

December 9, 1996

Study shows graduation rates up, minority enrollment on rebound

A recently conducted longitudinal analysis of NCAA graduation-rates data indicates that freshman student-athletes entering between 1983 and 1989 graduated at a higher rate than the nonathlete students at Division I institutions that offer athletically related aid.

Higher graduation rates were noted for the student-athlete group both before and after imposition of the Proposition 48 initial-eligibility guidelines; however, the graduation rates of student-athletes increased dramatically immediately after the imposition of Proposition 48.

The data also indicate a potential negative outcome associated with the implementation of Proposition 48: There was a smaller proportion of African-American student-athletes at Division I institutions following the rule's implementation than there had been before 1986 (at least in the first four years following the rule). Although the proportion of minority enrollment increased with the 1989 entering class, it still has not reached the level of 1985.

The study, conducted by the NCAA research staff, is the first longitudinal analysis of the data collected annually and reported in the Division I Graduation-Rates Report. Data collected from institutions that do not award athletically related aid (for example, the Ivy Group) were removed from the analysis, which means that the data are slightly different than those reported in previous graduation-rates reports.

"For the purposes of this report, we wanted the data regarding student-athletes and the general student body to be from an identical group of institutions," said Todd A. Petr, NCAA assistant director of research. "Therefore, we removed all schools that do not report data on student-athletes because they have no student-athletes on athletically related aid. This provides the best comparison group."

The data reviewed indicate that for all racial and gender groups studied, student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than their counterparts in the general student body. For example, black male student-athletes in all years studied graduated at a higher rate than black males in the student body.

Those data corroborate estimates made in previous studies related to the potential impacts of Proposition 48. Those estimates indicated increased graduation rates following imposition of the standard, but also predicted higher impacts on the minority population of student-athletes.

As for the decrease in the proportion of African-American student-athletes, Petr said that recent estimates indicate that the proportion will return to pre-Proposition 48 levels with the enrolling freshman classes of the mid-1990s. However, confirmation of those estimates will not be available until graduation-rate data are collected regarding those entering classes.

"The current data indicate an increase in the 1989 entering class, which is consistent with the estimates," Petr said. "We will continue to watch that proportion as new data are collected."

The following summary conclusions were made regarding the analyses conducted in this study:

  • The broad trends in initial enrollment for minority student-athletes show a decreasing trend (in percentage) beginning in 1986 (the initial implementation of Proposition 48), followed by a potential rise starting in 1989. There also has been a steady increasing trend in enrollment for female student-athletes.

  • The six-year graduation rates for both white and black student-athletes showed a remarkable rise starting in 1986, followed by small increases continuing all the way to 1989 (graduating by 1995).

  • All student-athletes are found to graduate at a higher rate than the rest of the student body at Division I institutions. This finding is seen both before and after the enactment of Proposition 48.

  • Females graduate at a higher rate than males in both the general population and the student-athlete population.

  • White female and black male student-athletes graduate at a 5 to 10 percent higher rate than similar demographic groups in the general student body. Graduation rates for black female student-athletes have risen dramatically during this period; by the entering class of 1989, those student-athletes were 16 percent higher than black female non-athletes.

  • While the proportion and number of black student-athletes was lower after Proposition 48, the actual number of black student-athlete graduates increased after 1986. In the seven years covered by those data, black students make up a much higher proportion of the student-athlete population than the population of the general student body.

    Individuals interested in obtaining a copy of the full study may contact the research staff at the national office.