Academic excellence
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TheFarmFan
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Stanford reps these same stats, and I always wonder why they don't provide comparisons to the student body as a whole. Not to take anything away from the Husky student-athletes (or S-As at any school), but given grade inflation these days, and having taught at several top 10 universities, I'd be surprised if 67 percent of students at most schools didn't carry a 3.0 average...
HuskyNan
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Grade inflation is greatest at the elite universities such as Stanford. When I was at the University of Nevada, there were regional Department Chair meetings where I became acquainted with the chair of the Stanford Biology department back in the late '90s. He told me that he and most of his colleagues had given up trying to fight grade inflation since the students believed that they were all exceptional for having gotten into Stanford. The students felt that an average grade of C was unacceptable. So they only gave As and Bs.
Schools with the Highest Average GPA
I couldn't find data on the mean GPA at UConn. But it's a pretty significant achievement if student athletes have a similar GPA and honors placement as the general student population. Athletes have to work much harder than the average student in order to get good grades.
Schools with the Highest Average GPA
I couldn't find data on the mean GPA at UConn. But it's a pretty significant achievement if student athletes have a similar GPA and honors placement as the general student population. Athletes have to work much harder than the average student in order to get good grades.
TheFarmFan
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Totally agree about the accomplishment of student-athletes having a similar GPA given the extreme demands on their time, and most of my friends in college who were varsity athletes were just extremely focused, efficient people who excelled at time management.
And yes, having taught at both private and public universities in the top 10, I definitely felt more freedom to grade down in the public universities, where departments often have mandatory curves, so a non-trivial number of students will end up with B grades. That said, a B average is still a 3.0, so I'm pretty suspicious that the vast majority of students at most top public schools like UConn are averaging at least a B or better, possibly except outside some hard science disciplines...
KnightBridgeAZ
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Academic excellence is always to be praised. Both Rutgers and Arizona have touted the positive stats relating to various teams, the athletic program as a whole and in some cases individual athletes. Never doubted that UConn athletes would have good grades, I think it is an attitude thing among the coaches. At Rutgers, at least in the old BE days, Greg Schiano was very into the academics of the football team.
I do think a comparison with the university as a whole would be instructive. I'm 45 years out of college (Oh my Word) and there was a certain amount of inconsistency in grading even then. Folks matriculating within a department generally got at least a little more lee-way than others, and even then other subjects - I made the mistake of taking an advanced math course that was, to be honest, a bit over my head. When asked in the teacher interview (part of the grade) how I felt about the course, I acknowledged being a bit out of my depth, in spite of prerequisites and a decent GPA. I got the equivalent of a "B" - although I almost certainly failed the final exam and didn't deserve better than a "D" - and no one in the entire course got below a "C" and very few of them for that matter (this was the days of posted grades on the prof's door).
In a bit over 120 credits I never got below a "B" except one "D" that should have been an "F", but it was Organic Chem Lab (mandatory for a Chem major). An honest assessment would suggest that, while I was certainly a decent student, my GPA was a bit higher than my actual learning would suggest - and this was 45 years ago. So I suspect a "hard" evaluation is impossible.
I do think a comparison with the university as a whole would be instructive. I'm 45 years out of college (Oh my Word) and there was a certain amount of inconsistency in grading even then. Folks matriculating within a department generally got at least a little more lee-way than others, and even then other subjects - I made the mistake of taking an advanced math course that was, to be honest, a bit over my head. When asked in the teacher interview (part of the grade) how I felt about the course, I acknowledged being a bit out of my depth, in spite of prerequisites and a decent GPA. I got the equivalent of a "B" - although I almost certainly failed the final exam and didn't deserve better than a "D" - and no one in the entire course got below a "C" and very few of them for that matter (this was the days of posted grades on the prof's door).
In a bit over 120 credits I never got below a "B" except one "D" that should have been an "F", but it was Organic Chem Lab (mandatory for a Chem major). An honest assessment would suggest that, while I was certainly a decent student, my GPA was a bit higher than my actual learning would suggest - and this was 45 years ago. So I suspect a "hard" evaluation is impossible.
Bigboote
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Kudos to the student-athletes!
The thing that I hate about grade inflation: If the average grade is something like a 3.5, that differentiates really well between poor performers and soso performers. But it does a lousy job distinguishing between good and exceptional.
A couple of years ago there was a thread about the UConn athletes on the dean's list. I looked up the criteria, and they need to be in the top 20% of the class. On the same page the numeric criteria were listed for the different colleges. For several of the colleges, the necessary GPA for the dean's list was 4.0. If 20% of the class has a 4.0, how do you tell who's in the top 10%?
The thing that I hate about grade inflation: If the average grade is something like a 3.5, that differentiates really well between poor performers and soso performers. But it does a lousy job distinguishing between good and exceptional.
A couple of years ago there was a thread about the UConn athletes on the dean's list. I looked up the criteria, and they need to be in the top 20% of the class. On the same page the numeric criteria were listed for the different colleges. For several of the colleges, the necessary GPA for the dean's list was 4.0. If 20% of the class has a 4.0, how do you tell who's in the top 10%?
diggerfoot
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Studies have shown that students on work study have greater success than others, including students who are on fellowship. Researchers hypothesize, and I agree, that this is due to the necessity of budgeting one’s time, having to develop a routine where all the boxes can be checked. Student athletes thus have an advantage, not a disadvantage, in regards to academic success.
On a tangential but related note, those years when we made less money, and thus had to abide by a budget, we avoided all debt accept our mortgage. Those years when our income seemingly made us flush and we did not need no stinkin’ budget were the years when we had the most credit card debt.
On a tangential but related note, those years when we made less money, and thus had to abide by a budget, we avoided all debt accept our mortgage. Those years when our income seemingly made us flush and we did not need no stinkin’ budget were the years when we had the most credit card debt.