Protests Gather Steam Over NCAA Standards On Academic Eligibility

By Jeanne Ponessa

The chorus of protests from student-athletes, parents, politicians, and high school officials over the NCAA's academic-eligibility determinations is growing louder.

Some educators have begun questioning if the National Collegiate Athletic Association has gone into the business of mandating curricula, while one state's governor is mobilizing his counterparts to confront the powerful group that decides who can compete in intercollegiate sports and even, perhaps, who gets to go to college.

Ever since the Overland Park, Kan.-based association beefed up its academic standards, many educators have claimed that the NCAA's evaluation system is not working as intended. Some students who were denied eligibility this year had taken high-level courses that the NCAA's Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse failed to recognize as part of a challenging curriculum. ( "Student Coursework Runs Afoul of NCAA's Rules on Eligibility," ...