The Importance Of The GPA Standards For College Athlete

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Being a college athlete is not given to anyone. It is a privilege and a chance to play at the collegiate level in sports at its highest peak. When athletes get to college, they fall into a state of becoming lazy when it comes to their work. The GPA standards for college athletes are to maintain a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (O’Neil). This GPA gives college athletes the ability to slack off and makes less effort than what a regular college student does. I believe that the GPA standards for college athletes should be raised and enforced higher. Dana O’Neil of ESPN summed up a jump in the required minimum GPA from 2.0 to 2.3 is more challenging. If the athlete doesn’t abide by this then it should result in an automatic year of not participating in their respective season. Entering college as an athlete can be a challenge from the beginning. Before you enter college you must successfully have met all the requirements from high school to be eligible to play at the collegiate level. All of the core classes in high school must be completed. According to The College Board website the core classes consist of the basic subjects: Math, English, Science, and Social Studies. There are three years of math required, six semesters of science, two semesters or U.S. History, one semester of U.S. government, one semester in economics one semester in world history or geography as well. Two years of Foreign Language is a required art and a computer application class is required. Colleges usually look for the basic English, Math and Science areas. If a student-athlete coming out of high school has met these requirements, they are eligible to enroll into a college and play the collegiate sport they are pursuing in which they may or may not have received a ... ... middle of paper ... ...if college athletes don’t. I feel that if they change the GPA to a 2.5, the student athletes will not only have to work hard in their respective sports, but in the classroom as well. The NCAA requires that every university sports team have 8 hours of study hall time a week in efforts towards the student athletes’ grades and GPA. If the athlete doesn’t maintain the required GPA they should have to sit out until their GPA is up to par. This gives the college athlete the ability to slack off and not work as hard as they should be working in the classroom. Although athletes have struggles and strengths in their sports, they also have them in the classroom. I think that there is an ill-placed emphasis on athletics and an athlete beginning so early in education plays a role in the fact our educators are paid so poorly when compared to athletes when we grow into adults.

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