Study Says Majority of Ineligible Players Black

A survey by the Associated Press has found that the majority of college football players disqualified this year by Proposition 48 are black. The AP, which identified the race of 213 of the 274 players disqualified, reported that 185 were black.

The AP also reported that the number of academically ineligible players has stabilized--down to 274 this year from 401 in 1986, the year Prop. 48 requirements went into effect.

Prop. 48 requires players to achieve a minimum score of 700 out of 1,600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test or 15 out of 36 on the American College Test, and to have at least a 2.0 high school grade-point average in 11 mandatory courses.

National Collegiate Athletic Assn. surveys showed that blacks accounted for 81% of football ineligibility in 1986 and 90% in 1987.

Critics of the tests maintain that they are culturally biased. “We know that standardized test scores are correlated with socio-economic status,” said Ursula Walsh, director for research for the NCAA.

But Frank Moreno, associate director of public affairs for the College Board, which sponsors the SAT, disagreed. “It’s not so much cultural difference as much as educational backgrounds of blacks, their having appreciably less academic courses in high school,” he said.