Inside Higher Ed: Racial Gaps in Bowl Teams’ Academic Performance
Large racial gaps remain in the academic performance of football players who will appear in bowl games this year, according to a study released by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Among the findings on 67 teams (with one still to be determined):
- 57 colleges (up from 56 in 2008‐9) or 85 percent had graduation success rates of 66 percent or higher for white football players, which was more than 2.8 times the number of colleges with equivalent rates for African‐American football athletes.
- 21 colleges (up from 19 in 2008‐9) or 31 percent graduated less than 50 percent of their African‐American football athletes, while only two colleges graduated less than 50 percent of their white players.
- Seven colleges (up from five in 2008‐9) or 10 percent graduated less than 40 percent of their African‐American football student‐athletes, while no college graduated less than 40 percent of their white football players.
- 14 colleges (up from 12 in 2008‐9) or 21 percent had graduation success rates for African‐American football athletes that were at least 30 percent lower than their rates for white players.
- 35 colleges (up from 29 in 2008‐9) or 52 percent had graduation success rates for African‐American football athletes that were at least 20 percent lower than their rates for white football athletes.
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