Unfortunately, it's not just athletes anymore. With the government's push to get more students graduated from college and with state support going more and more to performance based funding, we will see a lot more of this throughout academics, not just with athletes. If anything, athletics has shown the way of to how to reach the supposedly "good goals" but lose sight of what is really important - giving the student viable career options and a degree that has market value.
Cheers,
Neil