Should athletes be favored in college admissions? CON: College admissions overemphasize athletics

By Kyle Allen
Opinion Editor

Academic achievement is the most important factor in preparing a young adult for success. Athletics should have a lesser role in the admissions process, as all other extracurricular activities do. Students must be well-equipped with problem-solving and communication skills as well as a will to learn and to better themselves. These qualities should be reflected in the admittance policy of colleges and universities throughout the United States.

In recent years, many schools, including those in the University of California system, have had to subsidize their athletic departments to keep them afloat, putting teacher jobs and, thus, students’ education at risk.
With so much money invested in athletics, a university must support its investment by bringing in talented athletes. These exceptional athletes are not always close to the academic ideals of the institution to which they are accepted. By investing in athletics, colleges and universities have placed a disproportionate emphasis on athletic ability in the college admissions process.

With these misguided practices, colleges have effectively told high school students that academics are not always an overriding factor in college admissions. Given that high school students will always do everything they can to be accepted at the best college or university, colleges should emphasize qualities that reflect the goals of their institutions.

Certainly one could argue that there is much money to be made in professional sports. For example, Tiger Woods, the highest paid professional athlete, made $90 million last year. However, according to The Playbook for Life, a project headed by The Hartford and NCAA to promote fiscal responsibility among student-athletes, only one percent of college athletes go on to play professional sports. Of those that do earn money for athletics, very few make enough money to last them once their career is over.

Colleges and universities must not stray from their original purpose: to educate the youth and prepare them for success. Although athletics can be used advantageously in the admissions process, putting a larger emphasis on students’ academic achievement is certainly the only way to completely achieve the mission of higher education.