The Effect that First-Year Experience Courses Have on Student Athletes' Academic Success When Only Student Athletes are Enrolled Versus When Student Athletes are Enrolled with Non-Athletes

This study examined whether the academic success, specifically the grade-point average, NCAA progress-towards-degree, and freshman to sophomore retention rates, of student athletes was influenced by participating in a first-year experience course populated exclusively by student-athletes and taught by athletic-academic personnel compared to student-athletes participating in an integrated first-year experience course populated by the general student body and taught by a faculty member not associated with the athletic-academic support staff at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). The results of the study showed that no significant differences existed between the groups regarding academic performance and NCAA progress-towards degree. There was also very little difference in freshman to sophomore retention rates between the two groups with the exception of white males participating in low-profile sports. The quantitative data for this study were collected from EKU's student information system.