SURVEY: College Athletes

[Tim Turner]

I'm doing a research paper on the various roles of college students, such as an average student to a part time working student to a student athlete, etc. Anyways, I need a survey for one of my cited works. This is a simple yes or no question, but explanation for your answer or further debate is always welcomed. Thanks for your help.





Do you think that the majority college athletes are given preferential treatment when it comes to academics (classes, teachers, grades, tutoring)?





Also, this isn't part of the survey, but what type of stereotypes do you usually associate with college athletes?

 

[Todd Z]

1) YES!!!



2) Not as smart, lower intelligence, Party animals, only at college because of sports scholarship



Todd Z

 

[user 64117]

ditto, with disrespectful as well

 

[TomT]

For large colleges:

1. Yes

2. Spoiled

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I also agree that athletes do receive preferential treatment. We see it almost on a day to day basis in the paper. I find it amazing that they drive new hummers and Caddy's that are not in there name???? Hmmmm.



I would go with Tom on this one. As a general rule most of them are spoiled. I as far as them not being as smart, I think that is true of the athletes that receive "gifts" to attend the collage. If they were smart, they would have a scholarship..

 

[Jenn D]

Ok, I am a former all-american college athlete. I graduated with a 3.8 GPA and a degree in mathematics. I paid $ZERO for my education. Lots of scholarship money went towards my education ($109,000 to be exact).



That being said, I take some offense to a few of the listed stereotypes....BUT I understand where they come from.The general public will usually relate all college athletes with what they hear on tv. You don't really hear about good things, you hear about the thugs. So, thus the stereotype of the general population will be completely bias. You really need to distinguish the level of play and/or sport. TomT did a good job trying to distinguish by answering the questions "for large colleges"



In my experience, YES, athletes are given preferencial treatment. Period. The reason most are given preferential treatment for classes/schedules is to accomodate game/practice times. We would spend countless hours meeting with advisors and coaches to create a schedule. It was like a logic puzzle to make things fit. As athletes, we are given a promise - if you make the grade, you will graduate in 4 years. In order to do that, they have to work with you to make it happen. That means, yes, we register early, get the classes we want/need and in return we give the remainder of our free time to the poeple who "pay" our scholarships.



As for stereotypes, well, yes, athletes can be the things mentioned above. They can be partiers. They can be spoiled. But not necessarily all. I know in my experiences though, disrespect would find you sweating your A$$ off running during every free second you had. Coaches keep close tabs on athletes and 90% of colleges have rules about attendence and interim grades in order to even compete in your sport on a given day. I also know that MANY athletes are actually some of the school's best academic achievers. Why? Well, because college athletes have most likely played sports their whole lives and as a result, learned how to balance their time between studying, practicing, playing and going to class.



STCTC - in all fairness, if your paper is on how the general public perceives student athletes, then please accept each and every response you get. The people here are real people and their results count. However, if this study is based on representitive populations, lacking bias, then this is not the best place for it. If you are looking to speak to someone within college athletics, I can set you up interviews with players, coaches, athletic directors, you name it.

 

[Greg Stuhlsatz]

I was a college athlete also. I was in the few minority.

 

[Jeffrey Travis]

 

[Jenn D]

Stu, there really isn't a majority/minority. It's just plain too broad of a spectrum to look at "college athletes" which I am sure you understand. There are so many dependent variables like size of school, male/female, sport, sport program/leadership, school degree offerings, college division, college conference, to name quite a few. For comparison puposes, it would be like comparing a lineman from University of Nebraska football team to a female tennis player from Mount Olive College (a Div. II school tucked away in NC).

 

[user 62394]

1) No, I do not think that the majority of college athletes get preferential treatment. I think this because the large majority of college athletes are at small schools, and they are using their scholarships to get an education. The Maurice Claretts of the world are the exception, not the rule.



2) I think that my view on this is skewed because I went to a small university (Michigan Tech) where there weren't many pro scout around except for maybe hockey. The athletes I knew were driven and dedicated, though I would throw cocky into that as well.

 

[Jeffrey Travis]

The stories that are read about are probably less than 1% of the total student/athlete population.



Obvious at larger colleges there will be some specialized treatment as the revenue generated from that player/player's sport is VERY large to the bottom line of the college and I see not problem with that. The players are restricted from having jobs and being able to earn spending cash, they have to get something from putting in all those extra hours. Yes, they get a scholarship but not being able to work leaves them w/o spending cash.



I played baseball at a D3 college for the love of the game. There were no scholarships to be had, we did not expect to get drafted by MLB.



As far as my answer.....it's too vague of a question because it cuts across to many sports, divisions, etc.



JT#14

 

[TomT]

That's why I stressed large colleges. The graduation rate for student athletes in really big schools is really low. I'm happy to say the athletic graduation rate at Rice University where I work is over 90%. The athletes here are not spoiled. They don't get preferential treatment and work incredibly hard to maintain their grades. I have all the respect in the world for them. I agree most of the athletes we hear about are in the high profile sports like football and basketball. That's really a small number but they get the most attention and generally are the most spoiled. Kind of ruin it for the rest.

 

[Adam Cat]

Yes. I go to UMD and I know they get their classes picked for them. They get tutors and plenty of other benefits that regular students do not get.

 

[Dallas Starr]

1) No



2) Depending on the sport and athlete. I beleive they get the attention they deserve (some might say too much but not me). As was said in "The program" (I think). "When was the last time 100,000 people got together to watch someone write an exam". The college athletes bring alot of money to colleges etc (not saying others dont) but they are they only ones that can bring their respective college attention on that large of a stage (say college football for example.... and yes... I do beleive they deserve to get paid).

 

[Paul Howard]

My Grandson is a walkon at a D1 school. He doesnt get anything other than an opportunity to travel with the team to a lot of wonderful places and see things he could not see otherwise. The only money he gets is eating money after every game at home and money to show prospective players around the town when on visits. The players also get assistance during study periods , two hours every day. He plays some and loves every minute of his time in school. He hopes to be a major college basketball coach after graduation in two years. He has already been told he will be hired at his school as soon as he gets his degree.

So, I do not thinh they get anything extra except some study help and a lot of counseling with classes to take etc.



They do get gifts when playing some schools. Example, when they got off the plane in AZ for a game they were met with new Ipods for everyone.

 

[Tim Turner]

Great feedback, I really appreciate it. Keep it coming.



Jenn D - My paper is on the general public perception of college athletes and particularly stereotypes that they are coined to. I appreciate the offer for interviews and such, but it's not necessary. I have plenty of responses here as biased or unbiased as they may be. Thanks again for your response.

 

[Bill V]

1) No.

2) Hard working, organized, fatigued, strained for time.



TomT, even at large universities, I think your position is flawed. Sure, the football team and basketball team might be like that. But athletes in most sports on most of those campuses haven't had the opportunity to let their positions go to their head, simply because most people at the universities, including alumni, really don't care how, for example, the crew or volleyball or rugby teams do. And those, combined, are the vast majority of the athletes, even at those schools.

 

[Sean M 2]

1) NO. I am currently a college athlete on scholarship. Other than getting to pick my classes before everyone else we do not get preferential treatment. I go to a small\medium sized school, but professors do not give me better grades or treatment because I am an athlete. It just dosent happen. I know that my coaches keep on top of us, especially when it comes to grades. Many dont realize the immense amount of time that a college athlete spends practicing. Combine that with school work, and in my case a part time job and its a very tough situation. Therefore, the very small amount of special treatment that we receive is well deserved.



2.) In my school athletes on a whole, act mostly responsibly. This is due to coaches who don't allow for inappropriate behavior and a no tolerance policy for those caught in such situations. I cant speak for other schools however.

 

[The Boss 2]

1. they don't get huge preferential treatment. like sean said, they do get to pick classes earlier, and other than that, the only other benefit that i've been told of by my athlete friends is that their textbooks are ready for them at the counter at the bookstore. they don't have to fight for copies, or deal with sell outs.



2. i'd say the "major" sport athletes are more known as unintelligent and huge partiers. outside of that, they're normal. if you don't think of them as athletes, they are just like every other college student. or at least thats what the case is with everyone i've met. where we talk about hanging out at home and work stories, they talk about football/basketball/baseball practice. no different.

 

[John Walker]

I played football at the University of Connecticut (before they went D1) so I played at the 1AA level with a full ride. You do get scheduling privledges as Jenn discribe above and acess to tutors for whatever class you need them in. This far out weighted with the amount of time and sweat you put in during the school year. My average day was this: Up for a 8am class, breakfast at 9:00, class at 10:00, class at 11:00, lunch at 12:00, lift at 1:00, film at 2:00, meet at 2:45, practice at 3:00, shower at 6:00, dinner at 6:30, study hall at 7:30, home at 9:00. Repeat most days, light practice on Fridays, games on Saturday, film and light running on Sunday. Start the week over! All this for tution/room and board. Its a year round job now a days and kids spend there summer in classes and conditioning. I got my education and 2 knee sugeries. Is it worth it: Yes, would I do it again: yes.



And yes, I did see the big time side of sports UConn is know for its basketball and those guys get alot of perks from clothes to gifts from the conference. This is all regulated by the NCAA which states that all student athletes (on scholarships) cannot have a job during the school year or take any money. The only time I was allowed to make money was inbetween summer workouts.