Editorial: New NCAA regulations timely, necessary

The NCAA approved a new academic policy for student-athletes last week. The NCAA approved a new academic policy for student-athletes last week.

The new rules allow for heftier, longer-lasting scholarships and increased academic standards. We think it’s about time the NCAA did its part to make sure its student-athletes are succeeding in areas other than sports — or at least keeping their heads above academic water.

The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors voted to allow conferences to provide up to $2,000 a year in spending money to their athletes, reintroducing a stipend that was in effect until 1972. Also, schools could be allowed to guarantee career scholarships for players. Currently, schools renew scholarships annually and can revoke them at will. The new plan would prevent them from revoking scholarships based on athletic performance.

We think this new plan is a way of solidifying trust between schools and athletes. The Associated Press points out that the average student-athlete pays about $3,000 to $4,000 out of his own pocket yearly in college costs. By doing away with that worry, schools can build rapport with their athletes — and career-long rapport at that. This could improve graduation rates and lead to more students sticking with their academic programs in lieu of going pro. Also, by taking athletic play out of the scholarship equation, student-athletes would be free to focus on keeping up their grades and being respectful individuals outside the game.

The board also passed a four-year plan to implement a new Academic Progress Rate quota, increasing it from 900 to 930. APR is the NCAA’s way of measuring a program’s success at moving athletes toward graduation. In the next couple years, teams that fail to meet the APR benchmarks would be ineligible to compete in postseason play. This would apply to football, too, as the board will include the condition in its bowl licensing agreements. A 930 APR is just above a 50 percent graduation rate.

If the NCAA had upheld these standards last year, several men’s basketball and football teams would not have been allowed to compete in the postseason.

Introducing the postseason as a carrot will make teams pay more attention to graduation and academics. Since playoffs are the ultimate goal of a sports team, lumping graduation in with postseason participation makes education equally important.

And incoming student-athletes will see a change, too. A high school senior previously needed a 2.0 GPA in 16 core classes, but now he will need a 2.3 and must have completed 10 of those classes before senior year. A junior college transfer will need a 2.5 GPA.

Some say these requirements might target disadvantaged students in inner cities, but that isn’t the NCAA’s concern. It is in charge of student-athletes, and that’s where its interest should be. Making college sports more of an active opportunity for education and growth is exactly what the NCAA should do, and the stipulations outlined in this policy do just that.

We think fans might bemoan the balancing act of sports and academics, but it’s a necessary endeavor to make sure college students are receiving the education they’re playing for.

Any policy that makes student-athletes better candidates for the workforce is a good one.