| Within the last several decades, more attention has been focused on the academic success of college athletes. It has been documented from several studies that high school athletes perform better academically than their non-athlete peers (American Sports Institute, 1995; Brand, 2007; Dilley-Knoles, Burnett, & Peak, 2010; Foltz, 1992; Fox, Barr-Anderson, Neumark-Sztainer, & Wall, 2010; Slear, 2005). However, at the collegiate level, this heightened academic achievement trend among student-athletes is not so clear. Lapchick often releases data regarding graduation rates among a select group of highly achieving teams in certain sports but not much exists in the way of a comparison of academic achievement by using student Grade Point Averages (GPA) as a measuring tool. This study examines the academic success of student-athletes by comparing the achievement of various athletic teams with students enrolled in a particular set of classes at a Division I institution. Also, in accordance with the time management explanation of student-athlete success (Byrd & Ross, 1991), GPA comparisons are conducted between athletes and non-athletes using in-season athletic hours and working hours as a level comparable variable from which to examine. Several interesting patterns emerged from the data suggesting that although time commitments among athletes and non-athletes may have somewhat of a positive effect on academic achievement, it is not necessary significant. |
