NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA --- The problems of academic fraud posed by prep schools and diploma-mill high schools are not limited to college sports but affect all of secondary and higher education, according to a national panel convened to review the issue.

The 23-member working group was created by NCAA President Myles Brand last December after several college presidents raised concerns over the academic credentials of some students who attend certain types of prep schools or diploma-mill high schools or take nontraditional courses to meet NCAA initial eligibility requirements.

“These issues are causing problems not only in intercollegiate athletics but also in secondary and postsecondary education,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice-president for membership services and chair of the working group. “Increasingly, they go far beyond the reaches of the NCAA.”

The panel is comprised of college and university presidents and other higher education administrators; faculty members; athletic directors; conference officials; high school officials from state and national organizations; and NCAA staff.

At the outset, panel members acknowledged that the NCAA is not solely responsible for addressing this issue. Solutions must come from many institutions and organizations at the local, state and national levels, members said.

“At some point, we have to say that this is a joint effort between the NCAA, universities and colleges, secondary educators, state and federal government and many others,” said J. Bernard Machen, president of the University of Florida and member of the working group. “There is a certain responsibility that rests with our schools and many other organizations.”

The working group plans to issue a final report with recommendations by June 1 to President Brand. It spent the past two days reviewing key trends in secondary education and issues related to NCAA incoming eligibility requirements.

These include the process for approving nontraditional courses to meet NCAA standards; NCAA core-course requirements and time limits to meet those requirements in Divisions I and II; requirements for reporting ACT and SAT scores to the NCAA Clearinghouse and how those requirements could impact test score fraud; and the use of core courses taken at prep schools and how they meet NCAA minimum academic requirements.

The panel endorsed a number of possible recommendations to tighten incoming eligibility requirements and ensure academic integrity among incoming student-athletes.

The draft recommendations include identifying and sorting out prep schools and diploma-mill high schools that are not academically sound; limiting the number of NCAA-required core courses a student can take in his or her senior year of high school and beyond, such as at a prep school; examining the number of courses a high school student takes concurrently, to ensure they are truly learning the course material; considering whether to have testing agencies, such as ACT and SAT, send results directly to the NCAA Clearinghouse; and requiring prospects to register with the Clearinghouse prior to or during their first official campus visit.

The NCAA Clearinghouse certifies that prospective student-athletes have successfully completed the minimum academic requirements for initial eligibility set by the Association. About 145,000 students register with the Clearinghouse each year, and about 65,000 of them are reviewed each year by Division I and Division II institutions.

Lennon stressed that Clearinghouse certifications, if used in the college and university admissions process, should be just one of many factors considered by campuses when deciding to admit future student-athletes.

“While we recognize that some institutions rely on certifications from the Clearinghouse as a factor in their admissions decisions, it is important that the admissions process for each campus make an independent decision about each student’s admissibility,” Lennon said.