NCAA chided over academic enforcement

Few in higher education or athletics question the NCAA's intent in penalizing college sports teams for academic shortcomings. Its execution, however, is drawing fire.

The watchdog Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics pointed this month to scores of teams that have escaped sanctions despite posting subpar academic progress rates (APRs), saying waivers "may be too easy to receive."

When the NCAA does hand down scholarship cuts and other penalties, there is further concern with where they fall. Low-APR schools in the six richest and biggest-name conferences -- the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern -- were only half as likely to be punished in the past year as those in the other five leagues in the major-football-playing Bowl Subdivision (formerly called Division I-A).

"The NCAA's heart is in the right place. They want to improve the academic performance of student-athletes," says ...