<P> Division I sports team calculate their APR each academic year, based on the eligibility, retention and graduation of each scholarship student - athlete . It also serves as a predictor of graduation success . Another important measure of student athlete performance is known as the academic success rate (ASR). The ASR uses the number of team wins in the last 5 years, the team's all - time winning percentage, number of conference championships in the last 5 years, total attendance at recent home games, number of bowl games in the last 5 years, number of national rankings 25th or above in the last 5 years and number of program players currently playing in the National Football League or National Basketball Association . </P> <P> Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, now known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of its principal author, but more commonly known simply as Title IX, is a United States law enacted on June 23, 1972 that states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance ." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was designed in part to balance the amount of money spent on men's and women's sports . The late Sen. Ted Kennedy had a huge impact on women's athletics and the overall sports scene in this country . Kennedy led the fight throughout the years against efforts to overturn or water down the legislation . "Over the course of time, he played the leading role in keeping Title IX strong through the Senate, using his stature and his savvy to ensure that it remained strong protection for women in athletics," said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center . "As his leadership in the Senate grew, his responsibility for ensuring that Title IX remained strong and enforced grew . He became the chief force behind the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, which virtually re-enacted Title IX after a devastating, narrow Supreme Court decision, which among other things removed Title IX coverage from all intercollegiate athletics in this country ." Greenberger contends that Title IX might not have survived without Kennedy's guardianship, and thus the sports world as it is today might be vastly different . The increased opportunities for female athletes can be witnessed in college and high school athletics programs, and in turn have helped spawn professional leagues and greater participation and success at the Olympic level . </P> <P> United States federal law mandates that universities reveal their graduation rates purportedly to inform policy makers and constituencies about efforts to support educational attainment for students and athletes . Revealing the graduation rates of student athletes allows prospective student athletes to estimate the course load and amount of practice and game time that will consume their schedules by looking at student athletes that have already attended the institution . Universities with more selective admission policies graduate both students and athletes at higher rates, although their athletes graduate at lower rates, relative to their student cohorts . </P> <P> A Graduation Success Rate is taken by all three levels of competition and it analyzes the percentage of athletes who receive a degree from their school . The Graduation Success Rate is different from an ordinary graduation rate in that it fails to include athletes who have transferred from a given school (perhaps because of grades). At the Division I level, the most recent Graduation Success Rate measurement is at 86 percent, which is the highest ever . This number is also up 15 percent from the initial recording in 1984 . Overall, athletes graduated at a higher rate than their non-athletic peers . Of course, the comparison between the graduation rates of athletes and non-athletes varies based on demographics . For example, white males who play Division I sports graduate at the same rate as athletes who do not play sports . On the other hand, African American males graduate at a rate that is 13 percent higher than African American male non-athletes . The Division II level uses a measurement called the Academic Success Rate which is slightly different than the Graduation Success Rate used by the Division I level . The Academic Success Rate includes freshman athletes who are on a team but are not on athletic scholarship . Studies show that the comparison between Division II athletes and Division II non-athletes is relatively similar to that of the Division I comparison . The Division III level's graduation rate reports may be slightly skilled because it is not a requirement for Division III schools to report their information at the end of each school year . However, in the 2014 - 2015 school year, 146 schools reported their information at the end of year, which is the highest number ever . </P>

Where did the term student-athlete come from and why is it so important to the ncaa