College Athletes Advantage Essay

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College Athlete Advantage At all levels of education, athletics are thought to equip participants with a wide variety of beneficial skills. These skills, if utilized properly, could grant athletes an advantage both on the field and in the workplace. Many critics may argue that sports fail to emphasize the importance of education and rather distract students from their studies. College athletes compete at the highest levels while still balancing school work and their social lives. However, some researchers have discussed that although they begin college with the highest academic intentions, college athletes eventually become detached and lack educational motivation (Adler 241). On the other hand, while society tends to occasionally praise …show more content…
According to research, “Since the NCAA began tracking GSR with the class of student-athletes who entered in 1995, the overall rate has increased 10 percentage points, which translates to nearly 14,000 more graduates than if the rate had stayed the same” (Hosick). In other words, the data implies that participating in college athletics is beneficial and continues to sustain and improve the academic success of students. Universities continue to hold student athletes to higher standards. Athletes have proved to meet these expectations, and they appear to be graduating at higher rates than ever before. Those who participate in university sports seem to benefit more in the long run than those who do not. Sports may do more than enhance physical strength, but it may stimulate the brain as well. A study done by researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign compared, not the physical but rather, the cognitive ability of athletes to nonathletes. The article, How Sports May Focus the Brain, published in the New York Times recorded their

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