With March Madness in full swing, Education Secretary Arne Duncan says some NCAA tournament schools must do more to increase the graduation rates of their players – particularly African-Americans.
As NCAA action was tipping off Thursday, Duncan joined a sport and society scholar and the president of the NAACP on a news teleconference call to urge greater action on student-athlete graduation rates. Although most schools in the NCAA tournament are graduating more basketball players than in past years, significant gaps remain between the success rates of Whites and African-Americans.
The differences are “absolutely unconscionable,” the secretary said.
Data shows White male players from 2011’s tourney-bound schools graduate at a rate of 91 percent, but the rate for African-American men is only 59 percent. This gap has increased since 2006, says Dr. Richard Lapchick, president of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, which analyzed the data.
A gap in graduation rates also exists between women on NCAA tournament teams, he said, though the gap is smaller at 8 percentage points. Overall, Whites on NCAA women’s teams had a graduation rate of 92 percent, compared with 84 percent for African-Americans.
To address the problem, the secretary called for a ban on NCAA tournament participation if a school has less than 50 percent of its players on track for graduation. The tournament’s sizable revenue should go only to colleges on track to graduate at least half of its players.
“We need a more sensible balanced of athletics and academic priorities,” Duncan said.
