Athletes lean toward certain majors
Recruiters emphasize difficulty of curriculum to incoming athletes
John Krudy
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News
Sophomore Adam Connell plays baseball for Hillsdale College. He practices, lifts and eats with his team, but doesn't study with them: of 30 players, he's the only Spanish major.
"There are quite a few guys who are studying teaching, physical education, a lot of science," Connell said.
He yells to a teammate in the background.
"'Hey, what are you studying?' Yeah, he's biology. A lot of athletes are biology."
Connell said eight baseball players are education majors, and around 10 or 12 study biology. His team's lean toward those two fields indicates a larger trend at Hillsdale, in which athletes tend to study education, business, biology and physical education. Fifteen of 28 financial management majors are athletes.
Professor of Accounting Michael Sweeney estimated his department will graduate 19 this spring, and eight of them are athletes. Only seven athletes are language majors (of 77 total), and the religion, political economy and integrated science majors each count only one member who competes for the college.
But athletes, coaches and administrators agree that they don't face or exert pressure to study easier subjects or take easier classes, as is common at larger universities ("College athletes studies guided toward 'major in eligibility,'" USA Today, 11/19/08).
Football Coach Keith Otterbein argued that his players study a wide range of subjects.
"I just found this paper about what our kids have majored in - accounting, finance, chemistry, physical education, marketing," Otterbein said. "Athletes are across the board. You don't see the team stand up at graduation for only the physical education majors."
Otterbein said the retention rate for athletes "mirrors that" of the school.
"It's been 95 percent for the second year," he said. "It's gotten better as we're more open with the guys - I've got a recruiting class here today, and we try to scare 'em a little bit with the academics."
"There are quite a few guys who are studying teaching, physical education, a lot of science," Connell said.
He yells to a teammate in the background.
"'Hey, what are you studying?' Yeah, he's biology. A lot of athletes are biology."
Connell said eight baseball players are education majors, and around 10 or 12 study biology. His team's lean toward those two fields indicates a larger trend at Hillsdale, in which athletes tend to study education, business, biology and physical education. Fifteen of 28 financial management majors are athletes.
Professor of Accounting Michael Sweeney estimated his department will graduate 19 this spring, and eight of them are athletes. Only seven athletes are language majors (of 77 total), and the religion, political economy and integrated science majors each count only one member who competes for the college.
But athletes, coaches and administrators agree that they don't face or exert pressure to study easier subjects or take easier classes, as is common at larger universities ("College athletes studies guided toward 'major in eligibility,'" USA Today, 11/19/08).
Football Coach Keith Otterbein argued that his players study a wide range of subjects.
"I just found this paper about what our kids have majored in - accounting, finance, chemistry, physical education, marketing," Otterbein said. "Athletes are across the board. You don't see the team stand up at graduation for only the physical education majors."
Otterbein said the retention rate for athletes "mirrors that" of the school.
"It's been 95 percent for the second year," he said. "It's gotten better as we're more open with the guys - I've got a recruiting class here today, and we try to scare 'em a little bit with the academics."
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