Florida State University academic-athletic scandal

In 2007, administrators at Florida State University publicly announced that an internal investigation had uncovered evidence that multiple student athletes had engaged in academic dishonesty. These findings were corroborated by another investigation conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that implicated 61 athletes in multiple different sports. As a result of the scandal, the NCAA levied several punishments against the university. Sports journalist Mark Schlabach has called the incident "Florida State's biggest scandal".^[1]

The issue first came to light in early 2007, when administrators were notified that a learning specialist within the athletics department may have facilitated cheating on an online quiz. Following a multi-month investigation, the university found evidence that 23 student athletes in 9 different sports had engaged in academic dishonesty. The university reported their findings to the NCAA, who then conducted their own investigation. Following this later investigation, which concluded in 2009, the NCAA found that 61 athletes, including 25 members of the football team, had been involved in a cheating scheme involving a music history class. As punishment, the NCAA reduced the number of athletic scholarships that Florida State could offer by 17, applied a show-cause penalty against several individuals involved in the scandal, and vacated victories in several sports where ineligible athletes had participated. This included a vacation of 12 wins by the football team. While the university attempted to appeal the vacated victories, the NCAA upheld their ruling.