NCAA lists 16 more schools whose credits do not count toward eligibility for college athletics
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has added 16 more schools to its list of high schools whose academic credits will not count toward a student's academic eligibility for college athletics. The move is part of the NCAA's crackdown on high schools of questionable academic rigor that seem to help athletes who have struggled academically for years almost magically get their acts in gear and earn NCAA eligibility, late in their high school careers or even after they've finished at their original schools. Early this year the NCAA adopted a new process by which it reviews schools, based on apparent irregularities in student transcripts. As a result, several previously approved schools were removed from the list of institutions the NCAA uses to determine the initial eligibility of prospective athletes. According to a NCAA press release, some schools were added to the ineligible list because the information they provided "verified that they did not meet NCAA standards for initial eligibility," while others "did not adequately respond to requests for information." "The vast majority of high schools in the country, public and private, do a fine job of educating their students," says Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for membership services. "But we will continue to be vigilant to ferret out those schools that are providing miraculous academic recoveries for students in a short amount of time and with little-to-no instruction. Hardly anyone would claim that legitimate education takes place under those kinds of conditions." The NCAA also released a list of schools that it has cleared for use by athletes entering member colleges this fall but that it will continue to review for future years because it "still has questions" about them.
Inside Higher EdBy Doug Lederman
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Editor's Note: The NCAA press release is below. For more information on NCAA actions against nonpublic, nontraditional schools alleged to be "diploma mills" for high school student-athletes, see the previous Legal Clips article.]
[NCAA press release][NSBA School Law pages on NCAA action against "diploma mills"]