The National Collegiate Athletic Association is forming a task force to investigate conditions under which its members will grant scholarships to student-athletes who graduated from correspondence schools.
The NCAA decided to form the committee after The New York Times reported, on Nov. 27, about University High School, a privately owned storefront school in Miami that awarded diplomas to at least 14 current college football players. According to the newspaper, they graduated with significantly higher grade point averages than they had earned at the Miami public schools they attended for most of their high school years, and thus became eligible for athletic scholarships they couldn’t have gotten otherwise.
The athletes transferred to University High, the newspaper reported, after finishing their high school athletic careers. The school isn’t required to enforce the same graduation standards as public schools.
Representatives of higher and secondary education will serve on the NCAA committee, which will also include staff members of the Indianapolis-based association. The committee’s work also will encompass online courses, said Kent Barrett, a spokesman for the NCAA.
He said the task force would recommend rules changes within the next six months.
