ASU's athletic Graduation Success Rate reaches all-time high

ASU’s Graduation Success Rate improves 4 straight years

Statistics for the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) released Tuesday by the NCAA indicated a 79-percent graduation success rate, which is an all-time high for Arizona State University. The GSR is based on student-athletes who entered college as freshmen in 2001-2004 and allows for the removal of those individuals from the cohort who left ASU in good academic standing prior to completing their eligibility.

The GSR is the NCAA's more comprehensive calculation of student-athlete academic success. The NCAA rate is more accurate than the federally mandated methodology because it includes incoming transfers and students enrolling in the spring semester who receive athletic aid and graduate and deletes from the calculation student-athletes who leave an institution and were academically eligible to compete. The federal rate does neither.
 
ASU’s stated goal when the APR was introduced six years ago was an 80-percent GSR. The 79-percent GSR ranks ASU fifth in the Pac-12 Conference (out of 12 institutions), just one percentage point out of fourth-place (Oregon, 80 percent) and just four percentage points from second-place (UCLA/UW at 83 percent).
 
ASU’s women’s GSR rate is 94 percent, which is second in the Pac-12 only to Stanford (97 percent). The ASU men’s GSR is 66 percent.
 
Five ASU teams lead the Pac-12 Conference with a four-year GSR of 100 percent: men’s swimming and diving, women’s swimming and diving, women’s track and field and cross country, women’s tennis and volleyball.
 
ASU’s football team GSR is 64 percent, which ranks third in the Pac-12, behind Stanford (87 percent) and Washington (76 percent).

This is the 21st release of institutional graduation rates since national "right-to-know" legislation was passed in 1990. In 2005, the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance implemented the initial release of the team GSR data.

"I look at us as a component fostering intellectual, social [and] emotional growth," said Lisa Love, vice president of university athletics. "The student-athlete is the center of our universe, and the degree to which we teach leadership, risk-taking, and teamwork compliments invaluable academic growth gained from the classroom. Results measured by graduation and competitive successes are keystones to defining Sun Devil Athletics."

"The graduation success rate is the most significant measure of student athlete academic achievement that exists, " said Jean Boyd, associate athletic director for the Office of Student-Athlete Development. "This is the fourth consecutive year that we have improved in our Graduation Success Rate. The 79 percent ranks us in the Top 5 of the Pac-12, which is an elite academic and athletic conference. We are just one percentage point away from our goal of reaching 80-percent and are working hard to reach that goal."