Graduations rates for bowl teams

AP reports that, according to the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport,

"Forty-eight schools [playing on bowl games] graduated two-thirds or more of their white players, but just 18 met that mark for black players. Twelve schools graduated less than 40 percent of their black football players, while no program fell below that standard for white players."

BCS schools had a higher graduation rate than their counterparts in general for both black and white sudents, but the white students outperformed the black students by 25 percent (81% of white BCS student athletes graduate, compared to 56% of black BCS student athletes). This is nearly double the average discrepancy, as division-wide 62% of white students and 49% of black students graduate (a 13% difference).

It's good to know that schools that play in bowl games have transparently higher academic achievement rates. However, it's impossible to know based on this data whether the numbers are higher because standards are higher, or whether the numbers are higher because schools that compete at an elite level make sure — by any means necessary — that their athletes are academically eligible.

Moreover, the even larger gap between white and black student atheletes in bowl schools is indicative that these schools, while doing more for their students, are not doing enough for their at-risk students. For every future NFL player, there are half a dozen more who don't make it: these students deserve an college degree.