Progress: Graduation Rate For Blacks On NCAA Teams Improves

Gap in rate between white and black players is more than 20 points

Here’s a bit of good news for sports fans and education advocates alike. The overall gradation rate improved among players at schools in this year’s March Madness basketball tournament, with African American players making the most progress, according to a study by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. Black players’ graduation success rate increased from 59 percent in 2012 to 65 percent this year. White players’ rate increased from 88 percent to 90 percent. The overall rate increased from 67 last year to 70 this year. Richard Lapchick, the study’s author, says the majority of the report is a good sign. “In general, it’s the most progress I’ve seen overall,” Lapchick said told The Associated Press. “To be specific, every facet that we consider, everyone on the team, all the graduation rates increased…And the difference in rates between white and African-American players declined 3 percent, though that gap is still a major factor of concern.” The major factors in the improving numbers were the NCAA’s tightening academic rules and recent involvement of the federal government, namely of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. (AP)

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