Everyone knows the stereotype of the dumb jock and has seen the plethora of movies showing athletes, especially football players, as being much less intelligent than their non-athletic classmates. But is it the athletics that make student-athletes dumber, or are dumb students more prone to be athletes?
photo from: http://fullscalesports.com/2014/09/08/ncaa-reinstates-penn-state-for-postseason-elgibility/
Studies of all athletes and their grades over the entire academic year and by semester showed their GPAs to be lower on average as compared to their non-athlete counterparts. For the year athletes GPAs were only slightly lower on average about .17 difference for the year, however when they studied individual teams based on their season and their semester grades it showed that athletes during their “in-season” had GPAs on average .51 lower than other students. On average college athletes spend about 20 hours per week practicing, lifting, practicing, or playing in games during their season, on top of the average semester credit load of fifteen classes, the work that comes with their classes, and maybe jobs or other activities. It can be easy to see why athletes who are more busy than average student, and more physically active may find less time to focus on studying to get those high grades. As an athlete myself, I know that after having lifting in the morning followed by a day of classes, then practice, I only have a few hours worth of studying or homework left in me before I jus want to pass out. But are athletes lower grades only attributable to their busy schedule, or is it something more?
Athletes on average are accepted to schools with about a 200 point difference in sat scores and a lower GPA. So, it could also be argued that athletes are less equipped for a college work load which causes their lower grades. But are the lower grades in high school also caused by athletics? Or do their grades have nothing to do with the athletics? Most students who have jobs work on average 20 hours per week, but their GPAs fit into the data of the non-athletes grades seamlessly. So what is the difference between athletes and students who work? Are student athletes naturally dumber or do they just sacrifice good grades to be better athletes? Personally, I think that from the data and from personal experience, it is safe to say that athletics cause a decrease in student-athletes’ GPAs. Sometimes sleeping after a hard practice just sounds so much better than studying.
I would have to disagree with your statement that athletics cause a decrease in student athletes GPA’s. In fact I would argue that athletics causes many students GPA’s to be higher than they would be otherwise. Programs given to student athletes are designed to make sure they succeed, not only to be eligible to play but to get the best education possible and ensure that they will graduate. It is also possible that the schools that participated in the study have lower GPA standards than more involved universities like Penn State. Sometimes athletics are a way for more underprivileged students to get a better educated, which could be a cause of the lower GPA’s, that they never had proper schooling to begin with and have to catch up in college. It is also true that some people learn differently and students athletes are more likely to learn with their hands or through physical activity, which isn’t always conducive to a 400 person lecture hall. This would be another reason that their GPA’s are lower. My final reason that athletics aren’t the cause for student athletes decrease in GPA is a recent Penn State graduate and football player John Urschel. He played football for Penn State for 5 years and in that time completed his undergraduate degree in mathematics with a 4.0 and went on to complete his masters with a 4.0. He is even considering pursuing a PH.D in math. Athletics may not be the cause of the lowering GPA’s in student athletes, John Urschel is a prime example.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Urschel