Selection of an Article from Ben Strauss of the New York Times:
The NCAA has long clung to the idea that college athletes are essentially engaged in extracurricular activities, but evidence to the contrary is mounting.
Football players might devote as many as 60 hours a week to their sport, with little time for studies. Graduation rates for Division I football and men's basketball players hover around 50 percent, according to federal statistics.
Core arguments that support the creation of sports performance majors are put forward by two professors well versed in big-time sports, players' academic shortcomings and the job market after graduation: David Pargman, a professor emeritus in educational psychology at Florida State, and William D. Coplin, director of the public affairs program at Syracuse and author of 10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College.
With higher education already facing criticism that it is beholden to big-time sports, Josephine T. Potuto, a Nebraska law professor and NCAA faculty representative, worries that a sports major would be another example of the tail wagging the dog. "There comes a point when you are turning higher education into a pretzel to accommodate the high-revenue, fan attention-grabbing two sports," she said.
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Source: www.tampabay.com