65 of 78 Colleges in a Survey Have Set Drug Testing

According to a survey by the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, 65 of 78 colleges with Division I athletic programs will have some type of drug testing for athletes in the coming school year.

The Times-Dispatch survey included eight Division I conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big Eight, Southeastern, Southwest, Pac-10, Big East and Metro) and seven Virginia schools (Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Virginia Military, George Mason, William & Mary and James Madison).

Schools that do not plan to test are Duke, Georgetown, George Mason, Michigan State, Seton Hall, Stanford, Villanova, Washington and Washington State, in addition to Virginia’s four I-AA football schools (Richmond, James Madison, VMI and William & Mary).

Steroid testing will be conducted by 27 schools. All athletes and no other school personnel will be tested in 42 of the 65 schools. Arizona, Florida State, Houston and Texas are testing only scholarship athletes. A few schools are testing coaches, cheerleaders, trainers and managers.

About half of the schools said a student-athlete would have to test positive three times before being in danger of losing his scholarship. None of those schools said that police should be notified of positive results unless there is evidence that the offender was supplying drug users.