Abstract:
Earning a degree and playing at the NCAA Division I level are both incredible
accomplishments and accolades. Both require hard work, dedication, and commitment.
However at many institutions, athletics outweighs the value of academics, and student
athletes succumb to their preferred degree being put on the backburner due to the high
intensity and demand of their athletic schedule. With the use of Crawford, Jackson, and
Godbey’s (1991) leisure constraint model and Raymore’s (2002) facilitator model, this
study looked at constraining and facilitating factors that impacted Division I athletes’
decisions to major in their preferred academic area. This study used a mixed methods
approach and looked at former Division I student athletes who participated in nonrevenue
generating sports. The study found that the majority of Division I student athletes
in non-revenue generating sports are majoring in their preferred choice of major; however
there are multiple constraints that arose in their degree choice selection. Academic
clustering was also found to be evident amongst seven schools within the Atlantic 10
Conference.
