Restructuring athletic graduation analysis at Virginia Tech

Abstract

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) passed legislation requiring its member institutions to publish their graduation rates. Institutions may now count athletes as graduates if they have earned degrees from another institution. The purpose of this study was to assess a graduation rate that included those athletes, with at least a 2.0 QCA, who departed Virginia Tech between 1975 and 1985. An additional purpose was to determine why these athletes left. There were seventy eligible participants who received questionnaires via mail. Forty questionnaires were returned, of which, thirty one were usable. Seventy nine percent of the responding athletes earned a degree from another institution. Of these athletes, ninety seven percent enrolled at another institution within one academic year of leaving Virginia Tech. Forty two percent of the responding athletes chose their sport of participation as the major reason for departing, followed by Virginia Tech in general, and personal reasons.