University of Illinois athletes meet GPA requirements

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - University of Illinois athletes maintained an overall GPA of 3.16 last fall and have graduation rates comparable to the general student body by some measures.

The University of Illinois Athletic Board put together information for the campus Academic Senate on the academic performance of the university's more than 500 student-athletes, The News-Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/2oqsofY ). It's the first report of its kind in five years.

The report is based on data the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics' Academic Services program collects quarterly for each sport, as well as evaluations by the Athletic Board's Academic Progress and Eligibility Committee done once every three years.

Those reports weren't made public. Some faculty members at a Senate Executive Committee meeting last Monday requested a more comprehensive summary.

Law Professor Tom Ulen, chairman of the athletic board, said all but one team met the senate's GPA criteria in the board's most recent evaluation.

"In almost every single instance, the teams were in compliance for all six semesters since their last evaluation," the report said.

Ulen's report said the unidentified team that failed to meet the requirements proposed a plan that the committee approved and "very quickly came back into compliance."

"We have also noted in recent years that programs that were once challenged in meeting the Senate criteria have all been doing better," Ulen's report said. "Men's basketball and football, for example, now have team GPAs that are close to or above 3.0."

Ulen didn't provide a breakdown of GPAs by sport. Athletic officials declined the newspaper's request to provide one.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com