The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) released its annual report of the NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program this past Tuesday, Oct. 28, and the report shows that Seattle University continues to successfully graduate its student-athletes above both the national average and the rate at which the entire student body completes its academic program.
Overall, for the 2004-07 cohort, the most recent one in which six-year data is available, Seattle U posted a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 94 percent and a Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) of 81 percent. In comparison, the GSR for the 2007 cohort across all Division I member schools of the NCAA was at 84 percent, and the FGR for the entering class of 2007 at Division I institutions was at 66 percent.
Six sports at Seattle University received a perfect GSR of 100 percent this year: women’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis. Almost every other Redhawk sport earned a GSR at or above 90 percent, including baseball (90), men’s basketball (91), men’s cross country/track and field (93), women’s cross country/track and field (95), men’s soccer (96), softball (95), women’s swimming (94), and volleyball (95).
The Redhawk athletics FGR of 81 percent is higher than both the graduation rate for all Seattle U students who entered school in fall 2007 (77 percent) and for all Seattle U students who entered school anytime between 2004 and 2007 (75 percent). Women’s cross country/track and field and women’s volleyball each received an FGR of 93 percent, followed closely by men’s cross country/track and field at 92 percent.
Among Seattle U sports with a measurable FGR, all but one received a rate higher than the national Division I percentage. Of note, the FGRs for both Seattle U men’s basketball (75 vs. 47) and women’s basketball (86 vs. 63) were significantly higher than the national rate for the 2004-07 cohort.
According to the NCAA, FGR assesses only first-time full-time freshmen in a given cohort and only counts them as academic successes if they graduate from their institution of initial enrollment within a six-year period. It makes no accommodation for transfers into or out of an institution. The rate is very limited because it ignores the large number of transfer students in higher education, but it is still the only rate that allows a direct comparison between student-athletes and the general student body.
GSR begins with the federal cohort, and adds transfer students, mid-year enrollees, and non-scholarship students (in specified cases) to the sample. Student-athletes who leave an institution while in good academic standing before exhausting athletics eligibility are removed from the cohort of their initial institution. This rate provides a more complete and accurate look at actual student-athlete success by taking into account the full variety of participants in Division I athletics and tracking their academic outcomes.
The commitment of Seattle University Athletics is to provide student-athletes with an experience in their sport that is challenging and rewarding while maintaining an environment where the pursuit of higher education is the top priority.