Graduating from college is very important to Mandy Heintz.
A kinesiology senior and forward on the women’s soccer team, Heintz graduates in May, even though she had another year of eligibility on the team.
Heintz decided last year to forego her senior season to graduate, before she accomplished so much this season.
Heintz said it was a hard decision to make, but one of the overriding factors for her decision was the schooling she has ahead of her — three years of physical therapy school.
“To be able to graduate in four years and still be an athlete is something that is very important to me,” she said.
Despite the nationwide trend of student athletes graduating at higher rates than all students, at LSU, not as many student athletes are graduating as regular students.
According to an NCAA report on students who entered a Division I school in the 1995-1996 school year, 60 percent of student athletes graduated by August 2001. This compares to 58 percent of all students at these schools.
At LSU, from the 95-96 entering class, 56 percent of all students and 49 percent of student-athletes graduated within six years.
While the University graduated more student athletes from the 95-96 entering year than the previous year, the overall percentage of graduating athletes remained about the same.
“The goal is to maintain or keep in line with the overall graduation rate of our institution,” said Bo Bahnsen, associate athletics director for compliance.
But Bahnsen said the numbers from the NCAA report may be deceiving, because it all depends on the caliber of that particular year’s recruiting class.
“Any time we can show progress in the graduation rates, obviously we’re encouraged that we’re on the right track,” Bahnsen said.
Women’s soccer coach George Fotopolous said academics is the most important thing for student athletes. He even has his own personal goal for his players — to make a 3.0 GPA.
“I feel so strong about academics because that is what they are here to do, be student athletes — students first,” Fotopolous said.
For women soccer players, graduation also is an important part of their education because there are few opportunities for them to be professional players. Going professional before graduation is unrealisitic, Fotopolous said.
“It’s not about now, it’s about the future and their future is in graduating,” Fotopolous said. “It is far more important to me to graduate a player than anything else.”
Fotopolous also said an important part of his team’s success in the classroom is the Academic Center for Student Athletes and all the services it provides the students.
He said it is something they take advantage of.
“Without the help of the Academic Center they could not physically or mentally take on such a task,” Fotopolous said.
Roger Grooters, Academic Center for Student Athletes director, has high goals for LSU student athletes.
He said his long-term goal is to graduate 70 percent of student athletes.
“We feel like we can graduate at a higher rate than our university,” Grooters said.
But that takes time, he said.
Grooters has been director for one year, and has a new wealth of resources at his fingertips with the recently renovated $15 million center in the Gym-Armory.
ACSA staff members are moving from a temporary location in Broussard Hall into the new facility this week.
“You could just take one look and know it was not conducive to a good study environment,” Grooters said of the Broussard Hall accommodations. “But now we can develop more programs because we have the right kind of spaces to develop them.”
Grooters said the ACSA works to monitor the progress of student athletes. All freshmen and student athletes with below a 2.3 GPA are required to come to the center for counseling.
“We’re working really hard to establish a culture that education is the most important thing,” Grooters said.
He is confident he can reach his goal. He said at former institutions, the schools were graduating 70 percent of student athletes from higher-revenue sports such as football and men’s basketball.
The NCAA report details another trend — female athletes graduate at a significantly higher rate than male athletes.
While universities generally graduate a higher percentage of females than males, the disparity is greater for student athletes.
At LSU, 60 percent of female athletes and 40 percent of male athletes from the 95-96 class graduated. This compares to 59 percent of females and 54 percent of males for regular students.
Although more female athletes graduate, the men’s basketball team has two graduates on the team–Brad Bridgewater and Collis Temple, III.
Temple said graduating was extremely important to him. Temple graduated with his undergraduate degree in just three years. This December, he graduates with a master’s degree.
Even though he plans to play basketball in the NBA, he said having his college degree will help him with life after basketball.
“To have a great career in the NBA, to play 10 or 12 years, I’ll still be 35, 36 years old when I get out,” Temple said. “Hopefully, I plan on living until I’m about 100, so that gives me 65 years to do something with my education.”
Temple said athletes are given many support services and opportunities but do not take advantage of them, and Temple said that is a shame.
“They [athletes] are given a lot of things,” Temple said. “Of course we do a great deal for the University and our athletics.”
Officials said many factors contribute to higher female graduation rates.
Grooters suggested more male athletes may become professional athletes.
“Though there are professional sports for women, it’s not as pervasive,” he said.
Female student athletes come in with a better attitude, Grooters said. But he hopes that attitude overflows to all student athletes.
Heintz agrees the academic center is an important part of student athletes’ success in the classroom.
Graduation, she said, has been a top priority for her, even though managing athletics and academics is a hard task. With four hours of practice every day, it is hard, she said, to focus on school work when getting home at six in the evening.
“It’s very hard especially during the season,” Heintz said. “For every athlete, their sport is their job.”