The National Collegiate Athletic Association has found no evidence of academic fraud at Auburn University and will not penalize the institution for certain independent-study courses that many athletes took in 2005 and 2006, The Birmingham News reported today.

The NCAA had been investigating allegations since 2006 that the university used the classes, which demanded little work, to keep athletes academically eligible. An internal investigation, conducted by the university, concluded that the courses were “overly accommodating to all students,” not just athletes.

But late last month, the News reported, the NCAA informed Auburn that it had found no evidence of major rules violations or academic fraud.

The university, which has characterized the controversy as an academic problem, not an athletics problem, suspended a tenured sociology professor at the center of the flap in 2006. (The professor and the university later reached a settlement.) —Libby Sander