Athlete graduation rates rise, NCAA study says
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Division I college athletes are graduating at a record rate of 62 percent and are more likely to graduate than non-athletes, according to an NCAA study released yesterday.
Graduation rates for student-athletes in the Western Athletic Conference, as provided in a study by the NCAA. Numbers are based on percentages of student-athletes who entered school during the 1996-97 academic year and graduated within six years. School Men Women Overall Tulsa 84 96 89 Rice 74 100 81 Southern Methodist 63 78 69 HAWAI'I 59 71 65 Louisiana Tech 64 67 65 Boise State 48 78 59 San Jose State 41 67 56 Texas-El Paso 47 48 47 Nevada 42 50 46 Fresno State 23 45 34
Graduation rates at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa were included in the study, and reflect the national trend.
How WAC fared
The report indicated that the student-athletes' graduation rate of 62 percent was two percentage points higher than last year's all-time high, and three percentage points higher than the overall student body.
The study covered athletes on scholarship who entered college as freshmen during the 1996-97 academic year, and measured the percentage of students who graduated within six years.
According to numbers provided by the NCAA, 65 percent of the student-athletes who entered UH in 1996 graduated within six years. Only 53 percent of the non-athletes at UH graduated within that same time span.
What's more, the 65-percent graduation rate of UH's student-athletes is eight percentage points higher than last year.
The NCAA has tracked graduation rates since 1984, but this was the first study compiled since more stringent academic requirements took effect in 1996.
"This shows that academic reform is making progress," NCAA president Myles Brand said. "But it is not yet complete."
Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, was optimistic but not convinced that the NCAA study was reflective of a broader trend.
"This is a one-year snapshot," he said. "We try to look in the longer term, like four to 10 years."
The numbers showed almost across-the-board increases, both nationally and at UH.
Nationally, female student-athletes had a 70-percent graduation rate, a one-point increase from last year. Male student-athletes were at 55 percent, also a one-point increase.
At UH, male student-athletes showed a significant increase, from 48 percent last year to 59 percent this year.
The UH football team had the greatest increase, from a 27-percent graduation rate last year, to 67 percent this year.
However, the female student-athletes at UH showed a significant decrease, from 86 percent last year to 71 percent this year.
Among the schools in the Western Athletic Conference, Hawai'i tied for fourth overall with its 65-percent graduation rate. Tulsa's 89-percent graduation rate was first in the WAC and second in NCAA Division I.
Nationally, Boise State had the highest student-athlete graduation rate above the average of the student body. The Boise State athletes had a 59-percent graduation rate, while the non-athletes had a 26-percent rate.
Notre Dame, which graduated 92 percent of its student-athletes, ranked No. 1 in NCAA-I and received $20,000 as part of the USA Today/NCAA Academic Achievement Awards.
It is important to note that student-athletes who transfer to a Division I school do not count in the study. Also, student-athletes who transfer out of a Division I school or attain early professional status can count against that school as a non-graduate.
The study did have a separate category showing the graduation rates of student-athletes who enter a school and exhaust their eligibility at that same school (in other words, athletes who transfer out were not counted).
At UH, 74 percent of those student-athletes graduated, an increase of one percentage point from last year.
Many schools consider that graduation rate to be a more accurate barometer.
