College Athlete Graduation Rates on the Rise

The NCAA released its latest Graduation Success Rates and the news is outstanding!

• 79 percent of Division I freshmen student-athletes who entered college in 2002 earned their degrees, matching last year’s rate. The average Graduation Success Rate for the last four graduating classes is 79 percent, one percentage point higher than last year.   Both rates are the highest ever for Division I student-athletes, said NCAA Interim President Jim Isch.

• The single-year Graduation Success Rate for men’s basketball student-athletes rose from 65 percent for student-athletes entering college in 2001 to 66 percent for those who entered in 2002. Even more dramatic was the long-term improvement – up from 56 percent for the entering class of 1995 (the first year of data collection).

• Division II’s latest Academic Success Rate results show that graduation rates for Division II student-athletes continue to significantly exceed those of the general student body.  Student-athletes in the entering class of 2002 posted a six-year graduation rate of 71 percent as calculated by the Academic Success Rate, far above the 55 percent using the federal graduation-rate methodology that does not take transfers or nonscholarship athletes into account.  The 71 percent rate is steady from last year and up from 69 percent for the 1999 and 2000 classes. The four-year aggregate is at 70 percent – 80 percent for female student-athletes and 63 percent for males.

Hats off to the Student-Athletes, coaches, administrators, coaches and the NCAA for their progress!

November 19th, 2009 - by Brian Davidson