University of Minnesota Athletics
Graduation Success Rate Improved for Gophers
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of University of Minnesota student-athletes continue to move in a positive direction, according the NCAA.
In data released by the NCAA Tuesday, University of Minnesota student-athletes posted an overall Graduation Success Rate of 72 percent, up one percent from Minnesota’s 2007 GSR of 71 percent and a four-point improvement over the 2006 figure of 68 percent.
The current Graduation Success Rate study is the fourth released by the NCAA and is based on student-athletes who entered the University between 1998 and 2001.
“I am pleased that the Graduation Success Rate for our student-athletes continues to improve and that we have been able to demonstrate progress in each of the NCAA’s four GSR reports,” athletics director Joel Maturi said. “Room for improvement remains, but our student-athletics, faculty and McNamara Academic Staff should be commended for the progress they continue to achieve.”
Maturi said he was also pleased with the Gophers’ exhausted eligibility rate, which indicated that 90 percent of student-athletes who completed their eligibility at the University of Minnesota also earned their degrees.
Graduation Success Rates for Minnesota’s women’s programs continue to shine, according to the study. Eight of 11 teams compiled rates above 80 percent, with golf, tennis and volleyball each notching perfect scores of 100.
On the men’s side, baseball, cross country/track & field, swimming & diving and tennis posted GSR figures of 75 percent or better.
The Graduation Success Rate was created by the NCAA in 2005 to more accurately reflect actual graduation rates by including transfer data in the calculation. The federal graduation rate used by the Department of Education, which was also released Tuesday by the NCAA, counts all student-athletes who transfer from or leave an institution for any reason as non-graduates from their initial school, even if they leave in good academic standing and subsequently graduate from another institution.
Minnesota’s federal graduation rate was 60 percent, just slightly behind that of the University’s general student body rate of 63 percent.
For more information on Graduation Success Rates, please visit www.ncaa.org.
