Dexter Manley of the Washington Redskins football team graduated college but could not read. He was illiterate, and still graduated from Oklahoma State University.

Outside of whether the standards are the same, a bachelor's degree can be incredibly rigorous for athletes. I watched my wife, who swam, practice/compete 20-30 hours a week, take the credit limit of courses, and get good grade. She's just one person, but she and some of her teammates worked much harder than many non-athletes I knew. Some of her employers since graduating have known athletes and seen that same, absurd amount of work and the quality of education she still got and hired her for it. There may be some who get a free pass, but many who are just trying to pay for and not waste school

One should also consider athletes in the types of programs you're talking about also have access to extensive alumni networks that will make sure they have a j-o-b if needed.

@jww Be aware that medical disorders, like dyslexia or aphasia, mean that reading is difficult or impossible for some. Do not imply that because somebody cannot read they are uneducated, have not put in an effort, or are stupid. A US University is required by law to make accommodations for students with such disorders.

@user71659 Dyslexia and illiteracy are two very different things.

@shladay I think OP is asking this in the context of big money athletics, IE.Basketball, Football, and Baseball. Sadly all others outside of edge cases are not big money makers.

@Servaes They are related. Illiteracy means you cannot read. Illiteracy can be caused by medical conditions such as dyslexia, or it can be caused by lack of education. jww cites an article which says somebody is illiterate, without any further information, and draws the unsupported conclusion that the person did not receive an education from a University. This is incorrect and ignores the possibility for real medical disabilities.

@jww The article says he is functionally illiterate. That's not the same as illiterate. An illiterate would not be able to understand a single sentence, a functional illiterate can get by but might have problems with complicated terms like "functional illiteracy".

@jww Given the topic of the original question, you're clearly implying that he graduated, despite being illiterate, because he was a college athlete. His being illiterate is not under doubt, but you do not provide any evidence that it was due to a lack of education or whether he received any disability accommodations. Again, saying, or implying, that x graduated from college despite being illiterate and therefore he cheated ignores very real disability accommodations required by law. If you're saying that he cheated, provide real evidence that he cheated.

@user71659 - Manley's illiteracy is a statement of fact. He faked his way through college as reported by news outlets like the LA Times and interviews with periodicals like People Magazine. When he testified before Congress on illiteracy he could not read his own prepared statement. I don't claim he cheated. I could not care less how he got through college. Nor do I care how the college treated their start athletes. If I have any opinion, it is we (society) cheated him and every other black or latino child that followed him. It disgusts me that we allow children to fall between the cracks.

@jww Read the original question carefully. The very first sentence of the question is whether college athletes get special treatment. You are implying he got special treatment. You again are ignoring medical disabilities by blaming society for all illiteracy. Charles Schwab, founder of the brokerage firm, is illiterate due to dyslexia, and holds a MBA. Society, as well as the law, assists these people by allowing them special assistance, i.e. additional time on exams and readers.

Dexter Manley also went to college about 50 years ago, so it's not clear that any part of his situation is relevant the question of how athletes' degrees are treated today.

@Servaes exactly. Dyslexia is a neurological or learning disorder, and there are specific interventions that can help people function in college as well as the real world. Plenty of people with diagnosed Dyslexia graduate - I know several. Illiteracy is simply being unable to read, and it can be caused by nearly anything. Some people are illiterate because they have dyslexia and didn't get the right help, others have no diagnoseable condition but are illiterate because they were not given enough opportunities to learn to read or they declined them.

Also, in theory, many different neurological or psychiatric conditions can contribute to a person not learning to read well enough to function, and also any condition (even if not brain-based) can contribute to it if it keeps the person out of school enough.

The critical difference (reflected in the research) between general illiteracy and medically-related illiteracy is in how to remedy it. For someone who just didn't learn to read because they grew up isolated in a remote town with no books or because they quit school at age 12 to work in the coal mines or fight in an insurgency, you simply teach them to read with standard literacy education techniques. For someone whose reading is impacted by a diagnosis (e.g. dyslexia, ADD, epilepsy, etc.), you have to first target an intervention for that condition in order to effectively teach them to read.