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Division I college athletes’ Graduation Success Rate reached the highest level recorded for athletes who enrolled in 2012, according to data released Wednesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The rate jumped one percentage point, from 88 percent in 2018, to 89 percent this year, meaning nearly nine in every 10 college athletes in the NCAA’s top division received their college degree within six years.
The GSR among college athletes has been steadily increasing by one to two percentage points each year since 2012. The NCAA measures the graduation rates of athletes differently than the federal government to produce what it says is more accurate data on athletes who transfer. Federal graduation data count students who leave an institution as nongraduates, while the NCAA factors in transfers who leave their original institution in good academic standing. The GSR for college athletes is consistently higher than the government’s measure.
This year, Division I college athletes had the same six-year federal graduation rate as the general student body at Division I schools, at 68 percent. While the student body increased its federal rate by 2 percent from 2018, college athletes’ rate remained the same.
For the first time, no women’s Division I sport had a GSR below 90 percent, the NCAA reported. Black college athletes’ rate remained the same as in 2018, at 79 percent, and they continue to have higher federal rates than black students who are not athletes.
