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For years, coaches and athletics officials have complained that the federal methodology for calculating graduation rates is unfair, because it counts against institutions those athletes who leave college in good standing and does not give the programs credit for athletes who transfer in and graduate. Those complaints mirror, to some extent, criticisms of how the federal rate applies to non-athletes, too, but the objections tend to be loudest about the athletes because of the significant scrutiny paid to the perceived academic underperformance of athletes, particularly in big-time sports.
To respond to those concerns, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as part of its broad efforts to improve the academic performance of athletes, produced a new measure called the graduation success rate, which, like the federal rate, examines the proportion of a four-year institution's freshmen who earn a degree within six years. But unlike the federal rate, the NCAA graduation success rate excludes from the denominator those athletes who leave the institution in good academic standing (whether to go pro or to transfer to another college), and includes in the numerator those who transfer in to the institution and proceed to graduate.
"Given the mobility of today’s students, the GSR is simply a more defensible methodology,” says Todd Petr, the NCAA's managing director of research.
Last month, the NCAA released a team by team look at the new graduation success rate, but it withheld the rates for institutions overall until Thursday, when it also released the latest version of the federal rates.
Perhaps to no one's surprise, colleges look much better under the NCAA rate than they do under the federal rate: Over all in Division I, the new rate showed athletes who entered NCAA institutions from 1995 to 1998 graduating at a rate of 76 percent, 14 points higher than the federal rate.
And individually, fewer than 10 of the more than 300 Division I institutions had lower rates using the newly concocted measure than the federal one, as seen in the table at bottom. And some of the increases are quite eye popping. The federal graduation rate for Clemson University's athletes (53 percent), for instance, lagged significantly behind the rate for all students at the institution over the four-year period (71 percent). But the graduation success rate for Clemson athletes who entered during the same period soared to 97 percent.
The athletic graduation success rate for Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne was 75 percent, compared to 39 percent under the federal rate. And Campbell University's rate rises to 91 percent from 54 percent.
The higher numbers have led some critics to question whether the new NCAA is so enamored of the new rate not simply because it is fairer, as association officials emphasize, but because it makes the situation in college sports look so much better.
During a telephone news conference announcing the new rates Thursday, a reporter (OK, this reporter) asked Myles Brand, the NCAA's president, to respond to critics' suggestions that the new rate was a tactic to improve the NCAA's public relations.
"That's the most cynical point of view I've heard in a long time," Brand sputtered. "The claim to accuracy is critical important. You have to look at the federal rate in a way that disqualifies it."
Added Walter Harrison, president of the University of Hartford and chair of the NCAA's executive committee: "Our intention here is to try to give ourselves and the public an accurate picture of what's happening with the students."
Just because it has found a measure that shows the graduation rates to be better does not mean that the NCAA will not push ahead on its efforts to improve the academic performance of athletes, Harrison said. "The issue here is not breaking my arm to pat myself on the back, as my wife would say. It's to see what's the task ahead.... All of us want to be sure our athletes graduate at even higher rates."
Because this is the first year the graduation success rate is available, only the federal rate -- imperfect as it may be -- offers a glimpse at change (and possible improvement) over time. The statistics released by the NCAA Thursday put the overall graduation rate for Division I athletes who entered in 1998-99 at 62 percent, unchanged from the year before but two points higher than the rate for all students at the institutions.
Male athletes were slightly less likely to graduate than other students (55 percent vs. 57 percent for all students), and 43 percent of Division I basketball players, 54 percent of football players, and 71 percent of female athletes earned a degree in six years.
Athletes in Division II graduated at a rate of 54 percent, compared to 45 percent for all students at their institutions. In Division III, the 1998-99 rates were 67 percent for athletes and 62 percent for all students.
Below are college by college comparisons for the federal and NCAA graduation success rates:
Graduation Rates at NCAA Division I Colleges, Entering Classes 1995-98
Institution | Federal Rate, All Students | Federal Rate, All Athletes | Graduation Success Rate |
Alabama A&M U | 37% | 48% | 48% |
Alabama State U | 22 | 45 | 55 |
Alcorn State U | 45 | 43 | 88 |
American U | 70 | 70 | 85 |
Appalachian State U | 61 | 59 | 73 |
Arizona State U | 52 | 57 | 69 |
Arkansas State U | 36 | 54 | 68 |
Auburn U | 67 | 55 | 72 |
Austin Peay State U | 30 | 49 | 65 |
Ball State U | 49 | 72 | 89 |
Baylor U | 71 | 67 | 90 |
Belmont U | 56 | 62 | 78 |
Bethune-Cookman C | 33 | 41 | 81 |
Birmingham -Southern C | 74 | 77 | 91 |
Boise State U | 25 | 53 | 72 |
Boston C | 88 | 82 | 93 |
Boston U | 74 | 72 | 92 |
Bowling Green State U | 61 | 69 | 84 |
Bradley U | 70 | 77 | 88 |
Brigham Young U | 55 | 55 | 69 |
Brown U | 95 | n/a | n/a |
Bucknell U | 88 | 92 | 94 |
Butler U | 69 | 76 | 90 |
Cal Polytechnic State U San Luis Obispo | 66 | 59 | 67 |
California State U at Fresno | 44 | 45 | 56 |
California State U at Fullerton | 47 | 44 | 59 |
California State Long Beach | 41 | 46 | 64 |
Caifornia State U Northridge | 31 | 32 | 53 |
California State U at Sacramento | 39 | 46 | 63 |
Campbell U | 45 | 54 | 91 |
Canisius C | 64 | 73 | 89 |
Centenary C | 55 | 46 | 93 |
Central Connecticut State U | 42 | 56 | 65 |
Central Michigan U | 51 | 63 | 76 |
Charleston Southern U | 34 | 40 | 40 |
Chicago State U | 16 | 18 | 54 |
The Citadel | 69 | 66 | 95 |
Clemson U | 71 | 53 | 97 |
Cleveland State U | 26 | 43 | 84 |
Coastal Carolina U | 37 | 47 | 92 |
Colgate U | 89 | 87 | 93 |
Colorado State U | 63 | 62 | 75 |
Columbia U | 91 | n/a | n/a |
Coppin State U | 26 | 51 | 70 |
Cornell U | 91 | n/a | n/a |
Creighton U | 71 | 70 | 95 |
C of Charleston | 56 | 62 | 76 |
C of the Holy Cross | 91 | 87 | 97 |
C of William and Mary | 90 | 83 | 95 |
Dartmouth C | 95 | n/a | n/a |
Davidson C | 91 | 92 | 97 |
Delaware State U | 32 | 42 | 51 |
DePaul U | 62 | 65 | 85 |
Drake U | 70 | 64 | 83 |
Drexel U | 57 | 71 | 79 |
Duke U | 93 | 90 | 96 |
Duquesne U | 70 | 77 | 87 |
East Carolina U | 53 | 63 | 81 |
East Tennessee State U | 37 | 53 | 72 |
Eastern Illinois U | 63 | 68 | 80 |
Eastern Kentucky U | 35 | 46 | 67 |
Eastern Michigan U | 38 | 56 | 67 |
Eastern Washington U | 46 | 49 | 78 |
Elon U | 70 | 71 | -- |
Fairfield U | 79 | 80 | 94 |
Fairleigh Dickinson U | 40 | 50 | 69 |
Florida A&M U | 34 | 36 | 35 |
Florida Atlantic U | 37 | 55 | 60 |
Florida International U | 35 | 43 | 57 |
Florida State U | 64 | 62 | 78 |
Fordham U | 77 | 75 | 88 |
Furman U | 82 | 74 | 93 |
Gardner-Webb U | 48 | 44 | 44 |
George Mason U | 37 | 54 | 77 |
George Washington U | 75 | 71 | 90 |
Georgetown U | 93 | 93 | 97 |
Georgia Inst of Technology | 69 | 57 | 67 |
Georgia Southern U | 37 | 53 | 72 |
Georgia State U | 35 | 54 | 67 |
Gonzaga U | 77 | 68 | 82 |
Grambling State U | 34 | 55 | 53 |
Hampton U | 55 | 60 | 79 |
Harvard U | 97 | n/a | n/a |
High Point U | 56 | 61 | 89 |
Hofstra U | 55 | 62 | 76 |
Howard U | 57 | 60 | 62 |
Idaho State U | 22 | 39 | 46 |
Illinois State U | 58 | 61 | 73 |
Indiana State U | 39 | 57 | 76 |
Indiana U at Bloomington | 70 | 64 | 81 |
Indiana U-Purdue U. at Fort Wayne | 20 | 39 | 75 |
Indiana U-Purdue U at Indianapolis | 18 | 49 | 56 |
Iona C | 52 | 64 | 76 |
Iowa State U | 65 | 58 | 68 |
Jackson State U | 36 | 38 | 46 |
Jacksonville State U | 38 | 54 | 64 |
Jacksonville U | 42 | 56 | 57 |
James Madison U | 79 | 74 | 84 |
Kansas State U | 57 | 53 | 74 |
Kent State U | 47 | 63 | 77 |
LaSalle U | 71 | 79 | 88 |
Lafayette C | 85 | 81 | 94 |
Lamar U | 29 | 44 | 60 |
Lehigh U | 84 | 83 | 97 |
Liberty U | 42 | 55 | 76 |
Lipscomb U | 52 | 57 | 84 |
Long Island U | 19 | 65 | 77 |
Louisiana State U | 56 | 54 | 67 |
Louisiana Tech U | 54 | 56 | 67 |
Loyola C (Md.) | 81 | 76 | 95 |
Loyola Marymount U | 72 | 69 | 81 |
Loyola U (Ill.) | 67 | 81 | 83 |
U of Maine | 56 | 60 | 59 |
Manhattan C | 66 | 79 | 92 |
Marist C | 73 | 74 | 88 |
Marquette U | 76 | 82 | 94 |
Marshall U | 37 | 58 | 78 |
McNeese State U | 28 | 52 | 58 |
Mercer U | 50 | 61 | 79 |
Miami U | 80 | 70 | 73 |
U of Michigan | 85 | 77 | 85 |
Michigan State U | 70 | 66 | 76 |
Middle Tennessee State U | 39 | 51 | 62 |
Mississippi State U | 56 | 62 | 72 |
Mississippi Valley State U | 37 | 49 | 52 |
Missouri State U | 47 | 57 | 63 |
Monmouth U | 52 | 70 | 92 |
Montana State U | 44 | 57 | 69 |
Morehead State U | 43 | 51 | 70 |
Morgan State U | 39 | 54 | 62 |
Mount St. Mary's U | 66 | 73 | 88 |
Murray State U | 56 | 60 | 80 |
New Mexico State U | 44 | 55 | 57 |
Niagara U | 58 | 67 | 89 |
Nicholls State U | 27 | 34 | 47 |
Norfolk State U | 26 | 37 | 40 |
North Carolina A&T State U | 43 | 49 | 50 |
North Carolina State U | 64 | 54 | 68 |
Northeastern U | 57 | 69 | 88 |
Northern Arizona U | 47 | 50 | 62 |
Northern Illinois U | 51 | 65 | 77 |
Northwestern State U (La.) | 29 | 42 | 63 |
Northwestern U | 92 | 86 | 97 |
Oakland U | 47 | 53 | 54 |
Ohio State U | 60 | 62 | 78 |
Ohio U | 70 | 65 | 78 |
Oklahoma State U | 56 | 50 | 65 |
Old Dominion U | 41 | 58 | 71 |
Oral Roberts U | 52 | 56 | 79 |
Oregon State U | 59 | 57 | 73 |
Pennsylvania State U | 82 | 80 | 87 |
Pepperdine U | 76 | 64 | 79 |
Portland State U. | 33 | 44 | 53 |
Prairie View A&M U | 37 | 55 | 60 |
Princeton U | 97 | n/a | n/a |
Providence C | 85 | 75 | 94 |
Purdue U | 64 | 72 | 81 |
Quinnipiac C | 66 | 79 | 78 |
Radford U | 54 | 65 | 100 |
Rice U | 91 | 83 | 93 |
Rider U | 60 | 64 | 80 |
Robert Morris U | 55 | 63 | 95 |
Rutgers U | 72 | 65 | 75 |
Sacred Heart U | 55 | 76 | 96 |
St. Bonaventure U | 68 | 75 | 89 |
St. Francis C (NY) | 56 | 65 | 74 |
St. Francis C (Pa) | 60 | 68 | 87 |
St. John's U | 66 | 66 | 87 |
Saint Joseph's U | 75 | 86 | 93 |
Saint Louis U | 71 | 70 | 85 |
St. Mary's C of Calif. | 68 | 68 | 69 |
Saint Peter's C | 44 | 71 | 79 |
Sam Houston State U | 37 | 51 | 60 |
Samford U | 69 | 67 | 86 |
San Diego State U | 41 | 55 | 76 |
San Jose State U | 38 | 44 | 57 |
Santa Clara U | 82 | 76 | 86 |
Savannah State U | 20 | 22 | 22 |
Seton Hall | 58 | 62 | 82 |
Siena C | 75 | 81 | 97 |
South Carolina State U | 45 | 58 | 76 |
Southeast Missouri State U | 49 | 52 | 66 |
Southeastern Louisiana U | 24 | 51 | 67 |
Southern Illinois U at Carbondale | 41 | 61 | 77 |
Southern Methodist U | 71 | 74 | 88 |
Southern U | 27 | 53 | 54 |
Southern Utah U | 27 | 49 | 66 |
Stanford U | 94 | 88 | 94 |
SUNY Albany | 63 | 66 | 73 |
SUNY Binghamton | 80 | 69 | -- |
SUNY Buffalo | 57 | 65 | 83 |
SUNY Stony Brook | 55 | 57 | 71 |
Stephen F. Austin State U | 36 | 49 | 61 |
Stetson U | 63 | 66 | 91 |
Syracuse U | 78 | 76 | 84 |
Temple U | 49 | 63 | 73 |
Tennessee State U | 35 | 66 | 87 |
Tennessee Technological U | 44 | 55 | 69 |
Texas A&M U | 75 | 63 | 73 |
Texas A&M U Corpus Christi | 37 | 67 | 86 |
Texas Christian U | 65 | 67 | 86 |
Texas Southern U | 14 | 35 | 36 |
Texas State U San Marcos | 46 | 56 | 66 |
Texas Tech U | 53 | 59 | 77 |
Towson U | 59 | 70 | 78 |
Troy U | 54 | 53 | 81 |
Tulane U | 74 | 70 | 79 |
U.S. Air Force Academy | 79 | -- | 93 |
U.S. Military Academy | 84 | -- | 95 |
U.S. Naval Academy | 86 | -- | 99 |
U of Akron | 37 | 54 | 67 |
U of Alabama Birm | 38 | 56 | 65 |
U of Arizona | 55 | 58 | 66 |
U of Arkansas at Fayetteville | 48 | 41 | 60 |
U of Arkansas at Little Rock | 21 | 38 | 67 |
U of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 29 | 48 | 49 |
U of California at Berkeley | 84 | 67 | 73 |
U of California at Irvine | 77 | 63 | 80 |
U of California at Los Angeles | 85 | 62 | 70 |
U of California at Riverside | 65 | 67 | 68 |
U of California at Santa Barbara | 72 | 72 | 78 |
U of Central Florida | 52 | 45 | 80 |
U of Cincinnati | 49 | 59 | 66 |
U of Colorado at Boulder | 67 | 58 | 71 |
U of Connecticut | 70 | 62 | 76 |
U of Dayton | 75 | 83 | 94 |
U of Delaware | 74 | 81 | 89 |
U of Denver | 70 | 82 | 87 |
U of Detroit Mercy | 53 | 64 | 81 |
U of Evansville | 61 | 61 | 90 |
U of Florida | 76 | 58 | 91 |
U of Georgia | 71 | 55 | 65 |
U of Hartford | 53 | 60 | 87 |
U of Hawaii | 54 | 47 | 59 |
U of Houston | 38 | 49 | 59 |
U of Idaho | 53 | 53 | 68 |
U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 80 | 71 | 90 |
U of Illinois at Chicago | 44 | 54 | 87 |
U of Iowa | 65 | 69 | 75 |
U of Kansas | 57 | 64 | 68 |
U of Kentucky | 59 | 50 | 69 |
U of Louisiana at Lafayette | 30 | 54 | 65 |
U of Louisiana at Monroe | 29 | 46 | 62 |
U of Louisville | 34 | 50 | 66 |
U of Maine | 56 | 60 | 59 |
U of Maryland Baltimore County | 54 | 65 | 87 |
U of Maryland College Park | 51 | 69 | 76 |
U of Maryland Eastern Shore | 43 | 63 | 92 |
U of Massachusetts Amherst | 61 | 69 | 84 |
U of Memphis | 33 | 45 | 63 |
U of Miami | 67 | 60 | 77 |
U of Michigan | 85 | 77 | 85 |
U of Minnesota Twin Cities | 54 | 60 | 67 |
U of Mississippi | 55 | 51 | 69 |
U of Missouri at Columbia | 66 | 62 | 73 |
U of Missouri at Kansas City | 44 | 51 | 86 |
U of Montana | 43 | 60 | 68 |
U of Nebraska at Lincoln | 57 | 63 | 77 |
U of Nevada at Las Vegas | 38 | 38 | 53 |
U of Nevada at Reno | 48 | 50 | 63 |
U of New Hampshire | 72 | 78 | 90 |
U of New Mexico | 43 | 47 | 59 |
U of New Orleans | |||
U of North Carolina Asheville | 52 | 60 | 79 |
U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 81 | 70 | 80 |
U of North Carolina at Charlotte | 48 | 59 | 76 |
U of North Carolina at Greensboro | 49 | 67 | 83 |
U of North Carolina at Wilmington | 60 | 77 | 86 |
U of North Texas | 38 | 49 | 60 |
U of Northern Iowa | 65 | 62 | 81 |
U of Notre Dame | 95 | 90 | 98 |
U of Oklahoma | 54 | 55 | 62 |
U of Oregon | 60 | 64 | 75 |
U of Pacific | 68 | 70 | 76 |
U of Pennsylvania | 92 | n/a | n/a |
U of Pittsburgh | 64 | 57 | 74 |
U of Portland | 69 | 64 | 82 |
U of Rhode Island | 57 | 63 | 81 |
U of Richmond | 83 | 84 | 97 |
U of San Diego | 70 | 74 | 87 |
U of San Francisco | 66 | 58 | 85 |
U of South Alabama | 34 | 33 | 76 |
U of South Carolina | 61 | 58 | 78 |
U of Southern California | 78 | 61 | 67 |
U of Southern Mississippi | 52 | 67 | 76 |
U of South Florida | 48 | 57 | 71 |
U of Tennessee at Chattanooga | 43 | 54 | 53 |
U of Tennessee at Knoxville | 59 | 55 | 71 |
U of Tennessee at Martin | 39 | 42 | 61 |
U of Texas at Arlington | 35 | 42 | 63 |
U of Texas at Austin | 72 | 56 | 73 |
U of Texas at El Paso | 26 | 35 | 42 |
U of Texas Pan American | 25 | 32 | 58 |
U of Texas at San Antonio | 27 | 41 | 61 |
U of Toledo | 43 | 62 | 82 |
U of Tulsa | 60 | 56 | 72 |
U of Utah | 44 | 59 | 78 |
U of Vermont | 67 | 70 | 85 |
U of Virginia | 92 | 80 | 86 |
U of Washington | 71 | 68 | 84 |
U of Wisconsin at Green Bay | 43 | 58 | 90 |
U of Wisconsin at Madison | 76 | 70 | 82 |
U of Wisconsin at Milwaukee | 39 | 70 | 81 |
U of Wyoming | 55 | 52 | 86 |
Utah State U | 47 | 62 | 74 |
Utah Valley State C | -- | -- | -- |
Valparaiso U | 73 | 81 | 98 |
Vanderbilt U | 84 | 77 | 93 |
Villanova U | 85 | 80 | 95 |
Virginia Commonwealth U | 41 | 44 | 78 |
Virginia Military Inst | 67 | 53 | 67 |
Virginia Tech | 74 | 70 | 83 |
Wagner C | 71 | 63 | 82 |
Wake Forest U | 86 | 76 | 94 |
Washington State U | 61 | 61 | 70 |
Weber State U | 37 | 52 | 93 |
West Virginia U | 55 | 59 | 74 |
Western Carolina U | 47 | 59 | 78 |
Western Illinois U | 52 | 64 | 72 |
Western Kentucky U | 43 | 55 | 76 |
Western Michigan U | 54 | 65 | 74 |
Wichita State U | 34 | 51 | 70 |
Winthrop U | 55 | 65 | 85 |
Wofford C | 78 | 71 | 92 |
Wright State U | 38 | 60 | 73 |
Xavier U | 75 | 79 | 93 |
Yale U | 95 | n/a | n/a |
Youngstown State U | 37 | 62 | 70 |