The Ugly Side of College Football Scholarships

[OldSchoolLion]

Less than 2% of college football players get drafted by the NFL.  So, what happens to all of those kids who get football scholarships in high school but never make the pros?  How many will graduate with degrees that allow them to have a successful career that they may not have been able to obtain without the scholarship?  ...not as many as we might like to believe.  

Some lose their scholarship

A lot of people use the term "full ride," referring to football scholarships given to high school players.  The term is a bit misleading.  If you read the fine print, many colleges offer 1-year, renewable scholarships.  Cynics believe this is done so that universities can have flexibility to easily cull players for whatever reason.

There has been a big debate over this topic.  This is a related article. 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/schools-can-give-out-4-year-athletic-scholarships-but-many-dont/

Some never graduate

Only about half of NFL players got a college degree.  Only about half of Black college athletes graduate with a degree in 6-years.  Although White athletes fare better, their graduation rates are still 17% below the national average.  One study found that football players at the large football schools average 300 points less on their SAT scores than the regular student population, raising questions about their academic abilities.  It was even worse in basketball.

Some graduate with degrees of limited value

One study found that 41% of Texas football players were majoring in youth and community services, compared to 0.2 percent of all students, and 78.4% of Michigan football players were in general studies, compared to 1.6 percent of all students there."

LET’S DO AN EXERCISE USING SOME OF THE STATISTICS..

Last year, Michigan had 30 players enroll.  7 were White and 23 were Black.  Let’s say 1 of the White kids and 1 of the Black kids lose their scholarships over the next 4 years, leaving 28 players.  Of those 28 players, 11 of the Black kids and 2 of the White kids will not get a degree. Of the remaining 15 kids, 9 of the Black kids and 3 of the White kids will get a degree in general studies. 3 of the original 30 kids will get a degree in something beyond general studies.  Odds are that none of the 30 will make the NFL.

In this exercise, 50% of the kids got a degree and only 20% of those got a degree in something other than general studies.  

[DisabledAccount]

Some players have had to drop out to take care of families or go pro early because the NCAA has ridiculous rules preventing these kids from being able to take care of their families and they can't have jobs while in college 

[DarterBlue2]

I have argued for a long time that Colleges should not serve as the farm teams for the major professional leagues. The USA is the only major country where this is so. Far better for society as a whole, if as in baseball, that the kids get drafted out of high school and play in a so called "minor league." Those kids that are both academically and athletically inclined can still be offered scholarships to college if that is their desire. 

Of course this will probably never happen. Far too much money in big time college football and basketball. And, why would the professional leagues want to pick up the costs of further developing the talent while losing money in the sponsorship of a minor league team?

But from a societal standpoint, having the ultimate beneficiary of this talent pay the cost makes far more sense. Also, in doing so, coming out of high school, kids would have a far more realistic idea of whether they will ever make the big leagues. For those that don't get drafted for the minors could move on with their lives 2 to 5 years earlier and either get a degree or find another means of supporting themselves in adulthood. And those that do would have a pretty good idea 2 to 3 years in the minors whether they were making the development necessary to play in the "big leagues." Either that, or they would get cut and be able to move on with their lives sooner. 

[Sharkbait]

Something I have stressed to my son is pick your school based on field of study not the football team.  Also these small private universities make partial scholarship offers that still have you paying more than going to a big school as a walk-on and sure you may get more playing time but I would imagine the D1 experience is better.

[941football]

Use football as a tool to get into the best school possible. Maybe for some it is a way to get into a school that might not normally see you as a student. That has been our approach. 

As a father of a 2018 player , recruiting is a crazy business. Some coaches are upfront and will tell you how it is. That's all we have asked from the start. Some are hard to read. For us some of the smaller schools are looking more interesting academically. 

[BrowardHandicapper]

On 12/26/2017 at 4:49 PM, OldSchoolLion said:

Less than 2% of college football players get drafted by the NFL.  So, what happens to all of those kids who get football scholarships in high school but never make the pros?  How many will graduate with degrees that allow them to have a successful career that they may not have been able to obtain without the scholarship?  ...not as many as we might like to believe.  

Some lose their scholarship

A lot of people use the term "full ride," referring to football scholarships given to high school players.  The term is a bit misleading.  If you read the fine print, many colleges offer 1-year, renewable scholarships.  Cynics believe this is done so that universities can have flexibility to easily cull players for whatever reason.

There has been a big debate over this topic.  This is a related article. 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/schools-can-give-out-4-year-athletic-scholarships-but-many-dont/

Some never graduate

Only about half of NFL players got a college degree.  Only about half of Black college athletes graduate with a degree in 6-years.  Although White athletes fare better, their graduation rates are still 17% below the national average.  One study found that football players at the large football schools average 300 points less on their SAT scores than the regular student population, raising questions about their academic abilities.  It was even worse in basketball.

Some graduate with degrees of limited value

One study found that 41% of Texas football players were majoring in youth and community services, compared to 0.2 percent of all students, and 78.4% of Michigan football players were in general studies, compared to 1.6 percent of all students there."

LET’S DO AN EXERCISE USING SOME OF THE STATISTICS..

Last year, Michigan had 30 players enroll.  7 were White and 23 were Black.  Let’s say 1 of the White kids and 1 of the Black kids lose their scholarships over the next 4 years, leaving 28 players.  Of those 28 players, 11 of the Black kids and 2 of the White kids will not get a degree. Of the remaining 15 kids, 9 of the Black kids and 3 of the White kids will get a degree in general studies. 3 of the original 30 kids will get a degree in something beyond general studies.  Odds are that none of the 30 will make the NFL.

In this exercise, 50% of the kids got a degree and only 20% of those got a degree in something other than general studies.  

Great information and numbers OldSchoolLion but I'd take my chances with last year's Michigan class producing at least one of those 30 finding a way to a  NFL roster .  That 2016 class was a pretty strong field of players that Harbaugh brought in.