Anticipated Date of Graduation

Summer 2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences

Department

Mathematics

First Advisor

Douglas Darbro

Abstract

Student-athletes are a unique group of individuals that can always use help succeeding academically. Teachers and coaches want to help their students and student-athletes succeed both on and off the playing field. This study aims to determine when student­athletes need the most academic support-during competition season or during the off season-and what specific student-athletes need that academic support. The GPAs of student-athletes who played either a fall or a spring sport, but not both, were examined to determine if there was a difference in GP A when the student-athletes were in season as compared to out of competition season. The results were further broken down by individual sports compared to team sports and male student-athletes compared to female student-athletes. This study also seeks to predict high school GP A from a number of factors, including gender, race, and sport type, among others. Paired sample t-tests, independent sample t-tests, and multiple regression techniques were utilized to analyze the results. A significant difference was found between in season GP A and out of season GP A, as well as between team sports and individual sports, and between male and female student-athletes. Race was the most influential variable when predicting high school GP A. The results suggest that student-athletes need more academic support during the off season. Male student-athletes and team sport student-athletes could also use more academic support. On this basis, teachers and coaches know what student-athletes need more academic support and when.

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