Survey: Should athletes be required to maintain 2.0 GPA?

In August, Coach and Athletic Director asked readers whether students should be required to maintain a 2.0 GPA to participate in interscholastic sports. Some schools have lowered their standards for student-athletes, and while some agreed the move was necessary, most believed a ‘C’ average should be the minimum requirement.

Here are the results of our poll, along with some of the responses.

• Just as it is stated, they are student-athletes. I’ve been a coach for 42 years and a head coach for 34 of those years with lots of success and I believe in school first, because a vast majority of athletes go on to be everyday fathers with jobs and they have to fall back on their education to make it day to day. Most of my top athletes were great students that I could depend on day after day.

• Absolutely. The STUDENT-athletes are going to school for an education. Athletics are secondary and a privilege. If a STUDENT-athlete graduates from high school receiving less than satisfactory grades, he/she does not understand the material and thus has not received a quality education to help make them a productive member of society. Schools can produce all the student-ATHLETES they want, although if they can’t read or write, what’s the point? I understand the view point of athletics may be the only thing keeping some students in school, yet the primary objective of a school is education. Schools are not solely a playground.

• Torn on this question, however, maybe and 2.3 – 2.5, just because it helps build a focus. The argument against, as always, “this is all they have” just doesn’t cut it. If sports is all they have then others in their lives have been the culprits, not the schools. We’re not always to blame.

• 3 A’s and 3 F’s equal a 2.0 in a 6-period day. Hypothetically, that kid would always be eligible, but would not be a high school graduate.

• This is an arbitrary standard. Course rigor & college readiness is what should be the focus. Taking a AP physics class and getting a D should not prevent a student from a co-curricular opportunity.

• These young men and women need to depend on their education, why should we make them “settle”to achieve for mediocrity in the classroom but perfection in their sport?

• This is a C, the level all students should be able to attain by giving every course their best effort. I don’t want an athlete with a lower GPA because if they are not willing to give 100% in the classroom how can I expect them to give 100% to my team? I really hope schools don’t start letting athletes fall below this standard.