College Athletes, NIL, Graduation

If you have been following college athletics and “ Name Image & Likeness” or NIL for short, have you wondered how any of these young men will ever graduate. Do they care?

Elite college sports like Football & Basketball is where it all begins and ends. Last year, there were some young men playing football, having been in 3 or more schools, in their seventh year in college, and still haven’t graduated.

To be fair, there are a few who have received their undergraduate degree, and still have eligibility left, and are in graduate school.

It isn’t unusual to find someone who is playing for their third or fourth team.

I read this morning that a young man wanted a guarantee of $7 million, for NIL, to transfer to another school. This isn’t amateur athletics anymore.

It isn’t uncommon for a young athlete to receive $1.5 to $2 million per year. A few, as much as $5 million.

Is it no wonder that graduation isn’t high on their achievement list.

I started to think about how many credits does one need to graduate, and how many must be earned at that University or College that grants the degree?

I went to my AI buddy, ChatGPT, and asked him the question. His response was that the norm is 120 credit hours, with a minimum of 60 credit hours at the University or College granting the degree.

Some schools may require as few as 30 to 45 credits to be taken at their school, but that is an outlier. In addition to the minimum of 60 hours at the school granting a degree, you may be required to take at least 15 to 30 credits in your major.

Even if you were to transfer in, more than 60 hours, you still would need 60 hours at the school granting a degree.

In essence, many of these athletes transferring will never receive a degree. How can they? The NCAA is not doing these young men a favor. They are setting them up to fail in later life. Also, the top of the pyramid is so small, that only a very small percentage will ever achieve success in the NFL or NBA.

It is obvious that “education” isn’t high on their “bucket list,”

if at all.

Jess Sweely

Madison, VA

April 16, 2026