A study released during winter break pointed to a gap in SAT scoring between college football and basketball players compared with their classmates' average, a trend that extended to UF's own football team.
Of the 54 public universities in the study published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the biggest gap between football players and their classmates occurred at UF.
UF football players scored an average of 346 points lower on the SAT than the rest of the student body.
The national average showed football players scoring 220 points lower and basketball players about seven points below their score.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said that athletes are not given special consideration when applications are reviewed.
The UF admission's board is made up of faculty and admissions officials, who review applications using a holistic approach.
This means that SAT scores are not the only factor.
Instead, they choose applicants they believe will be able to graduate at the end of four years, Orlando said.
"There are no athletic officials on the board," he said.
Orlando also pointed out that UF athletes have the second highest graduation rate in the SEC with 87 percent. Vanderbilt University came in first with 94 percent.
Although he was unable to give an answer as to why UF had the largest gap among athletes and their classmates he said that the study has discrepancies.
"It's an isolated factor of one subsection of the entire student body," he said.
With UF's recent budget cut of $47 million, it is eliminating 430 faculty positions as well as reducing enrollment by 1,000 students each year over the next four years.
"I understand that extracurricular activities are important," said UF sophomore Christine Mudie.
"But I don't think its fair that I had to work so hard to get my SAT score up to par just because I'm not on the football team."
Mudie said she would be interested in seeing the SAT scores of other athletic teams such as softball and tennis.
Vanessa Rangel, a member of the UF women's soccer team, said that colleges shouldn't be concerned only with academics.
"Of course you want athletes to be well-rounded," Rangel said.
"But when you're recruiting athletes, SAT scores aren't the thing you look for. You want to be the No. 1 team in the nation."
Student athletes aren't the only students who feel this way.
"UF wouldn't be nearly as prestigious if we didn't have the athletics we have,"
UF sophomore Laura Milton said. "We wouldn't have the money and funding to do the research we do."
