The Effects of Higher Admission Standards: An Analysis of Intercollegiate Athletics
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The objective of this study is to examine the effects of increasing admissions standards on college enrollment and graduation rates among minority student-athletes. Intercollegiate athletics has traditionally provided increased access to college for minorities, especially African-Americans. In 1996, the National Collegiate Athletic Association enacted a policy that increased the minimum required high school GPA and combined SAT or ACT score for all entering student-athletes at Division I schools. Division II schools were unaffected by the policy, providing a plausible set of control schools with which to compare the impact. Although the target goal of the policy was increasing graduation rates of Division I schools, the current study provides evidence that graduation rates did not significantly increase among Division I schools. Furthermore, as a result of the increased standards for Division I schools, more student-athletes attended Division II schools and the schools experienced a subsequent increase in graduation rates. One possible explanation for this effect is that student-athletes of marginal academic quality may have ?matched? better with Division II schools and thus increased their likelihood of graduation.