Fourteen women¡¯s basketball teams in the NCAA tournament have perfect graduation rates, while a graduation gap persists between White and Black student-athletes on the men¡¯s teams.
The list of women¡¯s teams with a 100 percent graduation rate includes the tournament¡¯s top seed, Connecticut, according to a report released Monday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
On the men¡¯s side, the study noted a significant gap in graduation rates between White and African-American players. Nineteen tournament teams had a gap of 20 percentage points or more between the two groups.
¡°Nonetheless, the continuing significant disparity between the academic success between African-American and White men¡¯s basketball student-athletes is deeply troubling,¡± said Dr. Richard Lapchick, director of the institute. ¡°One of higher education¡¯s greatest failures is the persistent gap between African-American and White basketball student-athletes in particular and students in general. The good news is that the gaps are narrowing slightly and that the actual graduation rates of African-American basketball student-athletes are increasing.¡±
The graduation rates were based on whether freshmen who entered school between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 school years earned diplomas within six years.
Based on Graduation Success Rate data, the study finds:
