NCAA Colleges Score

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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