Showing my ignorance here but...college athletes are required maintain eligibility by earning course credits and maintaining a set GPA. Do they receive credit for playing football or any other scholarship sport? If not, why not? They spend a ton of time practicing, studying and playing games. If they can get credit for a badminton course shouldn't athletes get credit for football?

The only negative I see is that by giving them credit for football, they only have 2 credit courses left. They probably won't be able to squeeze in the badminton course.

I think it depends on the school. And I think, iirc, at PSU, it did. But, you could only take it once for credit. If you needed two physical education/kineseology credits/courses, you could take credit for football, but you couldn't take it twice. I distinctly remember having a b-ball class with a few members of the team, which I found odd because I thought they had that stuff covered with the football.

Back in the "good old days" major colleges offered a major in physical education. Not surprisingly, many football and basketball players chose this major. Between those courses, and the easy courses available in other fields of study (the ones that dim-witted legacy students who weren't athletic could used to "earn" a degree) it wasn't nearly as hard to stay eligible.

In those days, coaches were more often than not considered members of the faculty, and taught some of those courses. One such notable professor was Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, who taught a couple of classes in basketball - beginning and advanced, presumably. Professor Rupp never gave less than an A to any student in his classes. He defended this practice by asserting that he was such a great coach and teacher of the game, that nobody could possibly take his course and not learn enough to merit an A.

We don't see as much of that any more.

Like the guy said above, there's basketball,football,golf,etc. classes like you probably know. But, if I recall correctly, explicitly having something on the transcript that says "COLLEGE ATHLETE" with an "A" and 3 credits next to it is illegal in the NCAA.

(07-25-2014 10:07 AM)PiratePanther189 Wrote:  Like the guy said above, there's basketball,football,golf,etc. classes like you probably know. But, if I recall correctly, explicitly having something on the transcript that says "COLLEGE ATHLETE" with an "A" and 3 credits next to it is illegal in the NCAA.

Working and having gone to a few schools, I've never seen the physical education activity stuff go for more than one credit, and even there, I've seen those "courses" run for half a credit, much like performance groups were for musicians, or practicum credits for productions for theatre or art students. And it's only a traditional four-year school sort of deal...the stuff never transfers in two-year schools, so they're not even offered for credit or written into any curriculum. They don't transfer between four-year schools, either (phys. ed., performance group, or practicums). They're in-house things.

At PSU, when I was there, a decade ago, the football team was available for credit, but restricted in terms of enrollment. Quite honestly, I think the credit was there to give something back to walk-on's who weren't getting a scholarship.

this has been a beef of mine for many many years ... given the amount of time and intensity involved in most sports I strongly believe all participating students should get a variety ( meaning multiple ) of credits ... from comprehension skills to organizational demands to teamwork consistency to physical demands to playbook memorization ... all of these factors play into almost any career focus a student would have ... playing collegiate sports should have been taken much more seriously a long time ago ... basically give credit where credit is due ie using it as an internship type setting that is graded (using coaches and related instructors as a tandem to determine appropriate achievement level etc)

I received 1 credit for being on the varsity fencing team in undergrad (not at UC). It was a D-1 sport (because there's only 1 division for fencing) and I never attended any meets because I was a beginner.

The credit fulfilled my phys ed requirement. I think if I had continued to play I would have kept getting 1 credit that counted as general electives, but I'm not sure. I never bothered to check the rules because my degree mandated 129 credits before general electives so I didn't have any time for electives (A full load for 8 semesters is 120 credits).

(07-25-2014 11:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  this has been a beef of mine for many many years ... given the amount of time and intensity involved in most sports I strongly believe all participating students should get a variety ( meaning multiple ) of credits ... from comprehension skills to organizational demands to teamwork consistency to physical demands to playbook memorization ... all of these factors play into almost any career focus a student would have ... playing collegiate sports should have been taken much more seriously a long time ago ... basically give credit where credit is due ie using it as an internship type setting that is graded (using coaches and related instructors as a tandem to determine appropriate achievement level etc)

This is what I was thinking. I realize it may be against NCAA rules to give 15 credits/semester for football. I don't see the problem with giving the equivalent of 1 class (3 credits?) per semester.

(07-25-2014 05:32 PM)Wolfman Wrote:  

(07-25-2014 11:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  this has been a beef of mine for many many years ... given the amount of time and intensity involved in most sports I strongly believe all participating students should get a variety ( meaning multiple ) of credits ... from comprehension skills to organizational demands to teamwork consistency to physical demands to playbook memorization ... all of these factors play into almost any career focus a student would have ... playing collegiate sports should have been taken much more seriously a long time ago ... basically give credit where credit is due ie using it as an internship type setting that is graded (using coaches and related instructors as a tandem to determine appropriate achievement level etc)

This is what I was thinking. I realize it may be against NCAA rules to give 15 credits/semester for football. I don't see the problem with giving the equivalent of 1 class (3 credits?) per semester.

It's arbitrary. Not a lot unlike the marching band stuff...they get virtually nothing for it, but they're busting it for more than an hour or half an hour a week. Theatre programs are notorious with enslavement through performance practicum credits.

At some schools they bend the rules a little to do it. And it's universally accepted that band students can have a band credit. I see no problem considering how much time is put into athletics.

(07-25-2014 06:31 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(07-25-2014 05:32 PM)Wolfman Wrote:  

(07-25-2014 11:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  this has been a beef of mine for many many years ... given the amount of time and intensity involved in most sports I strongly believe all participating students should get a variety ( meaning multiple ) of credits ... from comprehension skills to organizational demands to teamwork consistency to physical demands to playbook memorization ... all of these factors play into almost any career focus a student would have ... playing collegiate sports should have been taken much more seriously a long time ago ... basically give credit where credit is due ie using it as an internship type setting that is graded (using coaches and related instructors as a tandem to determine appropriate achievement level etc)

This is what I was thinking. I realize it may be against NCAA rules to give 15 credits/semester for football. I don't see the problem with giving the equivalent of 1 class (3 credits?) per semester.

It's arbitrary. Not a lot unlike the marching band stuff...they get virtually nothing for it, but they're busting it for more than an hour or half an hour a week. Theatre programs are notorious with enslavement through performance practicum credits.

It is a double edged sword and a huge public perception issue, but I agree. The passion, energy, and effort alone is worth credits. In a handful of cases it may just be a lucky skill, but it is up to the hiring management to determine if it is one dimensional.

(07-25-2014 07:20 PM)dcCid Wrote:  

(07-25-2014 06:31 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(07-25-2014 05:32 PM)Wolfman Wrote:  

(07-25-2014 11:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  this has been a beef of mine for many many years ... given the amount of time and intensity involved in most sports I strongly believe all participating students should get a variety ( meaning multiple ) of credits ... from comprehension skills to organizational demands to teamwork consistency to physical demands to playbook memorization ... all of these factors play into almost any career focus a student would have ... playing collegiate sports should have been taken much more seriously a long time ago ... basically give credit where credit is due ie using it as an internship type setting that is graded (using coaches and related instructors as a tandem to determine appropriate achievement level etc)

This is what I was thinking. I realize it may be against NCAA rules to give 15 credits/semester for football. I don't see the problem with giving the equivalent of 1 class (3 credits?) per semester.

It's arbitrary. Not a lot unlike the marching band stuff...they get virtually nothing for it, but they're busting it for more than an hour or half an hour a week. Theatre programs are notorious with enslavement through performance practicum credits.

It is a double edged sword and a huge public perception issue, but I agree. The passion, energy, and effort alone is worth credits. In a handful of cases it may just be a lucky skill, but it is up to the hiring management to determine if it is one dimensional.

I think schools would have no problem putting more credits to the athletic teams, like the 1:1 ratio that follows with lecture/classroom hours to credits, but it's an accreditation and transferability thing, as well as cost (pay per credit). Half a credit may as well be 20 credits...it's just a number and doesn't necessarily benefit curriculum completion any more or less. If you're an engineering student, a half-credit or 20-credit course for the football team isn't going to require you to take more or less work in your core or other requirements.

Did anyone here ever transfer schools and have any of the physical education activities transfer over?

Depending on which school you are at you get a varying number of credit hours but just about all of them count it for 2-3 at least.

I think counting it as no more than that is fair.