CHE's Players blog has
a new entry discussing proposed laws in California and Georgia requiring schools to disclose information such as medical policy, scholarship policy, the cost of tuition, and so forth. These are interesting bills. On the one hand, one could say that it is the student's (and their parents) responsibility to research their college options and the true cost of attending a school. Athletes must accept the fact that they may get injured or underperform. They need to understand the consequences of these situations.
On the other hand, recruiters have been accused of painting an overly rosy picture for recruits. The recruiters tell the prospects that they will be treated like they are royalty, but that level of treatment may end if the player gets injured or does not perform. Players may not understand the hoops they must jump through in order to transfer in some cases. These proposed bills, if enforced, could make the recruiters more honest. I'm sure the recruiters won't dwell on potential misfortunes. It will probably be fine print, but the fine print may be more information than the recruits currently have.
In order for these laws to work, it must cover all recruiters from all the states, not just the ones where the bills are past. I believe both bills cover all recruiters. I'm not sure what the punishment would be for noncompliance. Could there be a situation where, for example, Georgia prosecutors go after Florida coaches for noncompliance while being blind to in-state violations?
There are still unanswered questions about these proposed bills, but I think there are more benefits than problems with the bills. I don't know if they will be passed or not, but I'm not sure if there is anything problematic about either that would get them voted down. I can't see it hurting the in-state team's competitiveness, although it may force schools in California and Georgia to adopt policies that are more favorable for the students if the students and parents actually listen and accept that injuries and underperformance happens in athletics all the time. I doubt that is a negative that will sway legislators much, but you never know what they are thinking.
If anything, I think colleges and universities need to be more transparent in general. Information given to prospective students is often full of half truths. To that extent, perhaps these proposed laws should be extended to cover all prospective college students.
