By U-Wire
AUSTIN, TX — The national graduation rate of student athletes is two percent higher than the 60 percent rate of general students, despite the challenges of balancing work and play, according to the 2005 annual graduation rate report of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
At the University of Texas, 61 percent of student athletes graduated within six years, while another 87 percent graduated after exhausting their four-to-six years of athletic eligibility. Amongst students not involved in varsity athletics, 74 percent graduated within six years.
The students included in the NCAA report entered universities during the 1998-1999 academic year and completed their degree within six years. Only athletes on college scholarships were included in the report.
“The regular students and professors may not understand how much student-athleties are doing and how rigid their schedule is,” said Randa Ryan, senior associate athletic director for Intercollegiate Athletics. Most UT swim team members attend a two-hour swim practice before attending class.
They have another two hours of weight lifting, followed by two hours of swimming after school, and study hall, ending at 9 p.m. They also attend swim competitions on Friday afternoons during swimming season, Ryan said.
“The closest way to look at student-athletics is like having a full-time job and going to school,” said Tyler O’Halloran, a journalism junior and member of UT’s swim team. “It’s pretty challenging.”
He said many professors have been helpful and understanding of his double role as a student and an athlete, but he has never received special treatment, except for taking exams or turning in papers early before he travels to swim competitions.
“We have to study as hard as average students do,” O’Halloran said.
Student-athletes carry a special type of burden, as they have to be alert mentally in the classroom and physically in the field, said associate journalism professor Gene Burd.
“I am very proud of our student-athletics,” Ryan said.
As a part of supporting a balanced growth in academics and athletics, various services are available to these students through the UT Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, including tutoring programs and financial aid, Ryan said.
Student-athletics are beneficial for fundraising, general support from the public and community pride, said Kent Darrett, associate director of public and media relations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
They have contributed to building a sense of community and a positive school reputation at such a big university like UT, Burd said.
Darrett said student-athletics have been on campuses nationwide for longer than a century and are now a component of college life that increases the quality of the college experience for other students.