Penn State and other universities should keep in mind that education always should come above athletics.

Student athletes at major universities across the United States neglect their schoolwork to concentrate on sports. According to survey results released by the American Institute for Research, athletes devote more time to athletics than to their studies, and have lower grade point averages than non-athletes.

Although the survey's results are slightly unsettling, the mere existence of such a survey suggests a positive movement in the world of college athletics.

The study was conducted in response to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's new agenda, which calls for reforming the role of intercollegiate athletics in higher education. NCAA Associate Director Ted Tow indicated the survey results might be used to change the rules governing NCAA-member schools.

Placing athletics over education has many damaging implications. A small percentage of college athletes go on to careers in the pros, many of which do not last long. If an athlete is not trained for another profession, it is the athlete who will suffer. Schools should not be allowed to exploit an athlete's talent while neglecting that athlete's mind.

Athletes and coaches here said Penn State's athletes are more academically-oriented than the survey's respondents. Coaches stress that Penn State athletes keep academics in their proper perspective and maintain academic integrity. They say they impress upon athletes that schoolwork should be their first priority. If this is an accurate portrayal of our system, it is encouraging.

Certainly, that does not seem to be the case at Oklahoma University and Oklahoma State University, nationally-ranked football powers that recently were sanctioned by the NCAA for various rules infractions. In both cases, high school stars recruited by the schools were offered vast sums of money, as well as cars and other perks.

The study will be useful in directing the NCAA and member schools to the areas in which student-athletes need help -- for instance, additional tutoring. Perhaps it also will make athletic departments more wary about fostering the "play first, pay later" attitude endemic in athletics today.

The survey only can help the plight of college athletes, no matter what it indicates about them as a group.