Miami's academic boot camp drives up student-athlete GPAs

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By Margo Kissell, university news and communications
The days start out tough and grow more difficult.
There’s plenty of grumbling among the incoming student-athletes, who didn’t expect it to be so taxing.
But after six weeks, they’re ready — for the classroom, just as they are for their first collegiate game.
Welcome to Miami University athletics’ academic boot camp.
The RedHawks Summer Bridge Program, as it’s formally known, started seven summers ago as a way to prepare first-year athletes in select sports for Miami’s rigorous academic experience.
This summer, 30 first-year student-athletes — football players plus men’s and women’s basketball players — are in the program that ends Aug. 4.
All are required to attend, even if they earned a 4.0 GPA in high school.
The reason football and basketball players participate is because the revenue generated by those teams allows Miami athletics’ budget to accommodate the NCAA’s rule that first-year athletes starting in the summer take six credit hours, said Craig Bennett, assistant athletic director for academic support services. Bennett developed the program with Rodney Coates, professor of global and intercultural studies.
Miami football coach Chuck Martin has become the program’s biggest believer.
“Our Summer Bridge Program is by far the best at preparing students for the transition from high school to college that I have been associated with in 25 years,” he said.
That transition can be overwhelming for student-athletes, who may practice 20 hours a week, have team meetings and travel to and from games in addition to coursework.

Statistics point to success
The student-athletes who took part in the 2016 Summer Bridge Program posted a mean grade-point average of 3.39 last fall semester, the highest GPA yet for the first-year athletes.
Organizers believe the program’s success is a big reason why Miami’s 525 student-athletes collectively posted a 3.301 GPA in spring semester, the second highest GPA for ...

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