"Why did no one flag UNC’s bogus classes?" PBS NewsHour 10/23/2014
Excerpt
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): For many years, the University of North Carolina has been a powerhouse in the world of college sports, enhanced by a reputation as an institution which cultivates student athletes.
But, yesterday, an independent investigator provided the most detailed look yet at academic fraud that lasted for nearly two decades and included bogus classes where students didn’t even need to show up.
Earlier this year, the HBO program Real Sports examined what was happening there.
Here’s an excerpt.
The correspondent is Bernard Goldberg.
BERNARD GOLDBERG, HBO Real Sports: At the University of North Carolina, learning specialist Mary Willingham was baffled by what she was seeing from the athletes arriving at one of America’s most prestigious schools.
MARY WILLINGHAM: They’re coming in with reading levels of fourth, fifth, sixth grade. There’s even some who are reading below a fourth grade level.
BERNARD GOLDBERG: You are saying that some kids who are admitted to the University of North Carolina, one of the best public colleges in America, with a fourth grade or even in some cases lower than a fourth grade reading level?
MARY WILLINGHAM: That’s correct. Makes it pretty hard to go to college, doesn’t it?
BERNARD GOLDBERG: You would think. And for many years, the NCAA had a rule to help ensure incoming athletes could handle college work, requiring them to score a certain level on standardized tests, like the SAT or the ACT.
But in 2003, that rule was revoked. Colleges could now put athletes on the football field or basketball court no matter how they did on the tests. And, soon, the term college education began to take on a whole new meaning.
Duh? The NCAA needs to reinstate the 'level on standardized test' rule.
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