In the second in a series of annual reports on the academic performance of Division III athletes relative to their nonathlete classmates, the College Sports Project said today that the differences between the two groups had narrowed slightly since the last report.

But female athletes continue to do better relative to female nonathletes than male athletes do relative to other male students, and recruited male athletes do worse still, the new report said. The series of reports is based on a longitudinal survey of athletes and other students who matriculated in 2005-6 at about 75 Division III colleges. The project is being financed by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. —Andrew Mytelka