Does Michigan Have Higher Academic Requirements for Athletes?

Submitted by tenerson on

I am just wondering if someone could tell me if Michigans academic requirement's pertaining to athletes are different than the average Division 1 program. If someone has a link explaining it or can tell me they are the same as everywhere else that would be great as well.

jb5O4

December 31st, 2010 at 1:31 AM ^

Obviously the school is less strict on football players than most of the student body...but Demar Dorsey, our best recruit last year didn't get in so there are limits.

mackbru

December 31st, 2010 at 1:39 AM ^

The hiring of Harbaugh will say a lot about the school's commitment to academic standards. Most schools would shun critics. Michigan will embrace one.
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<br>Plus, it will be nice to have a coach who doesn't sound sub-literate. Richrod sounds perfect for East Lansing.

SC Wolverine

December 31st, 2010 at 5:39 AM ^

UM was tough enough academically for those who met the standards of admissions.  It must be murder academically for athletes who 1) would not have come close to getting admitted if they were not athletes, and 2) spend an awful lot of time at practices, etc.  After my undergraduate years at UM, I later studied and taught at prestigious universities.  I still think the UM experience was the toughest for purely cut-throat academic toughness, because of both the refusal to inflate grades and the intellectual quality of my peers.  No wonder athletes often get degrees in softer subjects: I know I wouldn't have wanted to have to compete with the UM student body if I was -- how did Tate put it -- street smarts but not book smarts.  (It would be all the more reason to attend class however, and, you know, work hard.)

NardDogg

December 31st, 2010 at 9:29 AM ^

I didn't read all the comments, but obviously the student must meet NCAA standards.
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<br>The university admits one lucky student that wouldn't normally have the grades to get in. Nobody ever knows who this student was, but that is how they justify football players having lower grades.
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<br>That is a fact, but again, I'm not sure on the amount of players. I'd assume that is just determined based on how many scholarships we have for each team.
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Nitro

February 2nd, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

Towards the end of the application period, they also let in a number of additional (mostly out of state) students who didn't otherwise qualify but had parents who could and were willing to pay an "admittance fee" on top of the tuition requirements.  It's basically for families who are willing to pay for the prestige of having heir kid being able to struggle through a better school than they were qualified to attend (which I guess would help everyone else in terms of grading curves, but I don't really know the extent of the the perks are included with the fee).

These kids take some additional summer classes prior to freshman year starting to bolster their credentials and try to prepare them.  I think athletes who wouldn't otherwise qualifiy end up in this same program (in case you've wondered why there were always some douchey bros who seemed to be acquainted with a bunch of athletes around campus, this is why).

It seems like the school allocates a set number of spots for this program to the football team each year.  In a year such as this one where the scholarship class size might hit 30, you could see how more academic issues would arise than in a normal year.

ChalmersE

December 31st, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^

I could be off on the facts, but my recollection is that one of Tommy Amaker's top recruits failed to gain admission to Michigan and subsequently enrolled at OSU.  I further recall that the guy eventually bombed out there too, but if my recollection is correct, it would be an indication that Michigan has somewhat more rigorous admission standards than some of its major rivals.