. >> mary willingham says there are athletes who come for the university reading at a third or fourth grade level. she says there's no way for them to succeed in a college classroom. the only place they can succeed here is on the football field. willingham is one of the few people we could find who is looking at the reading levels of athletes in the revenue-generating sports -- football and basketball. >> they're leaving here without an education. they're significantly behind. the level of reading and writing that's required. >> reporter: with the university's permission, she combed through eight years worth of test scores, and found that up to 25% of athletes in the revenue sports don't have the skills to take classes at a community college, let alone a competitive university like unc. looking at 183 football and basketball players between 2004 and 2012, willingham found that 8% were reading below a fourth-grade level and 60% were reading between a fourth and eighth grade reading level. we want you to know is this happening in other schools? the ncaa told us that in to 12 alone 1/330

so now there's been blow back from mary willingham.to do will search was pulled yesterday. the university said she broke rules that she wasn't supposed to know the names of the students that she was studying, names that she never published in her findings. willingham has also received death threats so it's not surprising that some of the people that we've talked to in the last few days haven't wanted cnn to use their names but we did speak to the psychologist who administered the tests that willingham used in her research and that psychologist backs of the findings, that many of these student athletes could barely read. jake? >> just to reiterate, the university is saying that the findings are a travesty. they disagree. they are criticizing her findings. the university also says that you did not ask them for their data when you began this report. respond to that. >> right. and that's important. we asked for data from a lot of schools and we asked several times since september, we've repeatedly asked the university of north carolina to

. >> willingham found that 8% were reading below a fourth grade level and 60% were reading between ang level. >> we may as well just go over to glenwood elementary right off the street and just let all the fourth graders come here. >> stephen: why, how fast can they run the 40? (laughter) can they really take a hit? okay. folks, this counselor willingham here claims they're ripping our student athletes off. >> the scholarship agreement is often fraudulent. we promise an education in exchange for talents. and that's not what we are providing pain of these young people. >> stephen: fraudulent, come on. unc is fulfilling its end of the bargain. you play football and in exchange you get a dip lol loll-- diploma. you don't know that is what it is because you can't read it but trust them t says that you can. and this whole we owe students an education racket is a threat to something much more important than his future, present-day money. because college sports is an $8 billion industry roughly the size of the nfl. and if collegiate lets learn math they'll be able to calculate that their sh

meanwhile, willingham says the public safety department has called her.okesman told cnn they will look into the threats against her. >> now, jake, of course, cnn's investigation was much, much bigger than just unc. we interviewed dozens of people at several universities and collected data on more than 1,000 different athletes across the country. we looked at the reading levels of many athletes and since that story has aired, i have heard from even more people who are either currently or used to work with athletes, all thanking us for talking about this issue. jake? >> sara, let's be honest here. let's be frank. student athletes not being the strongest academically graduating barely able to read, is this ever going to change? >> you know, that is the question that i hear over and over and over again when i talk to a lot of people. people do not have faith and with so much money to be made in college athletics. however, there is hope. there is hope when we talk to people. >> sara ganim, thank you so much. keep up the great work, as always. >>> coming up on

they echo what mary willingham found.rsities argue they are satisfied with their overall graduation rates. the question here, is, how do these athletes graduate if they can't read? >> how do you get through high school if you are reading at a third or fourth grade level? so they are accepted into these universities. they are playing football, making massive amounts of money for the universities. the universities know that they are never going to educate these kids, because you can't be educated at a college level when you are reading at a third-grade level and yet they don't pay these athletes any money. >> right. the question is, a lot of people are pointing out today at least, you know, with the percentage of these guys that actually go pro, that can make a living without essentially being able to read, they can make a living off of their sport, that number is very low, less than 2% of these athletes that make it to the draft. a very low number go on to play professional sports. sara ganim, many thanks. >> put reporters

now there is also been blow back for mary willingham. her permission to do research was pulled.s. it is not surprising that the people we talked to in the last few days asked not to use their names for cnn. that psychologist backs up mary willingham's findings that many student athlete cost barely read. victor and christi. >> thank you, sara. >>> what if you found big bucks. >> not just $40, but big cash. it happened to a guy in oregon. hear all about it. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat too, and has five grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i -- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? oops. [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... 50% of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] ensure high protein. ensure. nutrition in charge! ♪ drimusic stopsusic ensure high protein. ♪ music resumes ♪ music stops ♪ music resumes ♪ ♪ [announcer] if your dog can dream it, [whistle] purina pro plan can help him achieve it. nutrition