National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

June 1, 1998

NCAA, government agree on learning-disabilities issue

Association keeps claim that it is not liable under terms of ADA

The NCAA and the U.S. Department of Justice have announced agreement on a consent decree related to initial- and continuing-eligibility standards for student-athletes with learning disabilities.

Negotiations between the two parties have been ongoing since October 17, 1997, when the justice department notified the NCAA of its findings that the Association was in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The NCAA disputed the allegations but voluntarily agreed to examine its policies and practices in order to better serve student-athletes with learning disabilities.

"With today's agreement, the NCAA is opening the doors for hundreds of students each year who want to go to college and play sports," Bill Lann Lee, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, said at a May 26 news conference. "Many young Americans dream of getting a college education and playing college sports. But for hundreds of students across the country that dream has not come true because they learn differently from their peers."

In the decree, the department noted that the "NCAA has engaged in good-faith negotiations with the United States in seeking to resolve this matter.

"In fact, the NCAA has already implemented several new policies discussed during the course of settlement negotiations so that students with learning disabilities can begin to take advantage of the new procedures even before a formal settlement has been reached."

The decree document also notes that both parties acknowledge that the NCAA does not admit liability under the ADA and does not waive its position that it is not a place of public accommodation and that Title III of the ADA therefore does not apply to it. Nevertheless, the Association has maintained from the outset of these discussions that it has and will continue to comply voluntarily with the ADA provisions.

The agreement with the justice department removes any dispute as to the Association's compliance with federal law in this matter.

Under the decree, the NCAA will formalize changes it had already made in the method by which high-school courses are evaluated for students with learning disabilities. The NCAA also will propose changes to allow students with learning disabilities who do not meet the initial-eligibility requirements to earn an additional year of athletics competition under certain conditions.

As part of its discussions with the Department of Justice, the NCAA agreed to change its rules to conform with its practices of accepting courses for students with learning disabilities that are substantially comparable, quantitatively and qualitatively, with courses in that academic discipline for all students. The NCAA will also amend its rules to clarify that the title of a course that includes a designation such as "remedial," "special education," "special needs," or other similar titles sometimes used for courses designed for students with learning disabilities, does not by itself disqualify a course from meeting the core-curriculum requirements as it would for a student without such a disability.

With regard to earning a fourth year of eligibility, the proposed bylaw change would apply to students with learning disabilities who enroll in a Division I college or university and who do not meet the initial-eligibility requirements and are not granted a full waiver. These students could receive a fourth year of eligibility if they complete at least 75 percent of their degree program by the beginning of their fifth year of full-time enrollment.

This change would apply only to student-athletes whose diagnosed learning disability is such that they will not progress at a rate to earn a baccalaureate degree by the beginning of their fifth academic year as determined by their college or university.

In addition, the NCAA and Department of Justice have agreed on a policy that clarifies the weight given to standardized test scores in determining whether to grant a waiver of the initial-eligibility rules for students with learning disabilities. Specifically, it confirms that the Division I Initial-Eligibility Waiver Subcommittee's current practice of not giving emphasis to low or high test scores or a particular subscore within the student's area of disability.

The decree notes that there is no minimum qualifying test score that is necessary for receiving a full or partial waiver and that the subcommittee will continue to review the overall academic record (high-school courses, grades in both the core courses and overall grade-point average, performance on standardized tests, and motivation and attitude toward learning). Other features of the consent decree include the following:

  • Noting that the Division I waiver subcommittee already includes members who are experts in the field of learning disabilities, the NCAA has agreed that all members of the subcommittee will have that expertise and that such expertise will be added to the Division II waiver committee.

  • In addition, the NCAA will designate at least one staff member as the ADA compliance coordinator.

  • The Association also will conduct training for relevant NCAA staff and clearinghouse staff on how students with learning disabilities are taught and how curriculum is developed for such students.

  • Beginning this summer, the NCAA will publicize the provisions of the consent decree to all public and private high schools, including those designed specifically for students with learning disabilities, encouraging them to submit courses that meet the new core-course definitions.

  • In the announcement to its membership, the Association will encourage colleges and universities not to refrain from recruiting students with learning disabilities, noting that the new policies are designed to enable such prospects to have an equal opportunity to achieve eligibility.

  • Over the next three years, the NCAA will submit reports to the Department of Justice, documenting its efforts to comply with the agreement and to comply voluntarily with Title III of the ADA. The reports will include statistics that:

    1. Track the ability of students with learning disabilities to receive favorable certification reports from the clearinghouse.

    2. Indicate the number of courses designated by high schools as designed for students with learning disabilities that are certified as core courses.

    3. Include the number of waivers applied for and granted to students with learning disabilities compared to students without learning disabilities.

    4. Show the number of students whose claims to have learning disabilities are rejected by the NCAA.

    Finally, the NCAA will make payments totaling $35,000 to four student-athletes with learning disabilities who filed complaints with the Department of Justice that led to its investigation.

    In a related matter, NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey said he endorses a change in Division I initial-eligibility standards.

    "I support extending the sliding scale by eliminating the current standardized test score cutoff," Dempsey said. "I have not supported any proposal that would lower standards."

    Dempsey noted that four of five full qualifiers with low grade-point averages and partial qualifiers (who by definition do not meet the test-score cutoff) continue to be eligible after their first year in college. The probability of success for those just below the cutoff is the same, he added.

    "In other words, both groups are equally successful," Dempsey said.