Irish Again Rank Atop Student-Athlete Graduation Lists

Feb. 8, 2006

Whether measured by the federal government in its Department of Education report or by the NCAA through its newer Graduation Success Rate (GSR) numbers, graduation rates for University of Notre Dame student-athletes again rank among the national leaders in all major categories among all Division I-A colleges and universities, according to statistics released recently by the NCAA.

Both the traditional NCAA graduation-rate figures and the GSR numbers for Notre Dame student-athletes found the Irish ranked sixth or better nationally in five major categories.

The federally mandated NCAA Graduation Rates Report, the 15th such survey issued by the association, covers students who enrolled between 1995 and 1998 at all Division I institutions. The NCAA bases graduation rates on the raw percentage of student-athletes who entered an institution and graduated within six years. Students who leave or transfer, regardless of academic standing, are considered non-graduates.

Using the federal formula, Notre Dame graduated a four-year average of 90.4 percent of its student-athletes, just ahead of Duke University at 89.6 percent, Stanford (88 percent) and Northwestern (86).

Notre Dame ranks second among Division I-A schools on another scale, called the GSR, which was developed last year by the NCAA. The University’s 98 percent GSR for all its student-athletes is second only to the 99 percent of the U.S. Naval Academy, which, like all military academies, is exempt from the federal survey because it does not offer grants-in-aid to student-athletes.

The GSR was created to more accurately reflect actual graduation rates by including transfer data in the calculation. College and university presidents asked the NCAA to develop a new methodology that takes into account the mobility among students in today’s higher education environment. Research indicates that approximately 60 percent of all new bachelor’s degree recipients are attending more than one undergraduate institution during their collegiate careers.

Among 626 student-athletes who completed all four years of athletic eligibility at Notre Dame from among those entering over a 10-year period from 1989-90 through 1998-99, virtually 100 percent (623 of those 626) earned their degrees.

Notre Dame graduated 96 percent of all women competing in varsity athletics, to rank first among its peer institutions based on the federal calculations, along with Duke which also finished at 96 percent. Among men, Notre Dame’s 87 percent rate also was tops, matching Stanford’s 87 percent rate and finishing just ahead of Duke (86).

Notre Dame graduated 78 percent of its black student-athletes, ranking sixth nationally, and Irish football players graduated at an 85 percent rate, to rank fourth (the national average in football is 55 percent).

In the GSR standings, Notre Dame finished second among all student-athletes at 98 percent (behind only the U.S. Naval Academy at 99), second among male student-athletes at 98 percent (behind the Naval Academy at 99), second among football players at 96 percent (behind the Naval Academy at 98), third among black student-athletes at 93 percent (behind Northwestern at 98 and Wake Forest at 96) and tied for fifth with three other schools among female student-athletes at 99 percent (Duke, Northwestern, Rice and the Naval Academy finished at 100).

2005 NCAA Graduation Rates
All data for student-athletes who enrolled between 1995 and 1998 (numbers are percentages)