An analysis of the academic success of student athletes in selected junior colleges in Texas

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study was to survey selected junior colleges in Region XIV of the NJCAA within the state of Texas and to analyze the academic success of student athletes participating in intercollegiate basketball. The central question was: Do student athletes identified as nonpredictors out of high school succeed academically at the junior college level? Success was defined as achieving a 2.00 GPA, which is required for transfer to a senior college. Nine additional research questions inherent in this study were also investigated. Procedures: A questionnaire consisting of an instruction page and two work sheets (Form A and Form B) was mailed or hand delivered to the athletic directors of ten junior colleges in Region XIV. The two forms requested entering status, GPA's for four semesters, and exiting status data. Initial condescriptive analyses tabled the data. A breakdown analysis produced individual GPA's for each semester and an overall GPA for all semesters attended. The breakdown also calculated overall GPA's for each athlete and for each junior college, as well as a combined GPA. ANOVA analyses were also generated on these data. A crosstabs analysis produced Chi Square tables using entering and exiting status, as well as exiting status by race and by junior college attended. A final analysis generated Pearson Correlation Coefficients between several of the variables. Tables were constructed to describe the colleges, student athletes, entering variables, grade point averages, and exiting status. [...]