Putting the "Student" Back into the Student-Athlete: In an Effort to Improve Retention and Graduation Rates, the NCAA Rolls out New Rules and Regulations

College sports is a numbers game, full of so many calculations--batting averages, free-throw percentages, BCS and RPI scores--that keeping them all straight can be a full-time job for a sports program. Now, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has put a new number on the table, and it has captured the attention of every athletic director, coach and student-athlete in Division I. The number is 925--and it represents the magic number in the NCAA's multi-year effort at putting the "student" back into "student-athlete." Under the new system the NCAA began rolling out on February 28, schools that have an "academic progress rate," or APR, of 925 or above have demonstrated a graduation rate of at least 50 percent and are safe from NCAA penalties. This article discusses related issues in the following sections: The NCAA's Numbers Game; Making Schools Accountable; and Men's Sports Average APR.