I was curious if anyone knew how the Academic Index works insofar as an ONGOING metric. At the Ivies they have team AIs that have to be met but what happens when an athlete quits a team. For example, if 3 high AI kids quit in a year, 1 sophomore, and 2 juniors, does the team AI plummet, making a recruiting year really difficult because now the coach now has to make up for the loss of AI?
I believe that the AI is a static measurement based on the high school stats of the admitted class on entry. At least everything I have read and everything I have heard indicates it is a tool used at admission. I can’t imagine why the schools would want to continue to monitor those numbers year over year. That said, I do know that at least some schools (or maybe the conference as a whole) provides punitive measures to programs if they lose lower AI kids for academic reasons.
I think it’s only used to determine the incoming class. After that it’s all about team GPA.
Thanks --this makes sense. I was involved in a conversation with some people about kids getting recruited as academic index boosters and so I was wondering what happens after getting admitted…
@Center Interesting question. When my S was going through recruiting, the Ivy school he was applying to had a mandated AI that he needed to have in order to be considered for admission. Among the athletes being recruited, the kids with higher AI would be able to offset the ones with the lower ones. It is my impression that the overall average of the recruited athletes for that particular academic year has to meet the mandated AI. Not sure if someone drops out afterwards would have any impact in the ongoing recruiting process.