Nov. 11, 1998

Notre Dame is No. 1 when the college football teams in the current wire service and Bowl Championship Series rankings are reranked by graduation rate, and the overall graduation rate of all student-athletes at the University is second among the nation’s Division I-A colleges and universities, according to the latest annual report compiled by the NCAA.

The 1998 NCAA Graduation-Rates Report, the eighth such survey issued by the association, covers students who enrolled between 1988 and 1991 at 308 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 nongraduates.

Using the NCAA formula, Notre Dame graduated 88 percent of its student-athletes, second only to Duke University at 92 percent. (Among student-athletes who complete all four years of athletic eligibility at Notre Dame, i.e., not considering those who leave or transfer, 99 percent earn their degree.) The national average for Division I-A schools – the 111 institutions with the largest football programs – is 58 percent.

Notre Dame graduated 86 percent of men competing in varsity athletics, again second to Duke’s 92 percent. Among women, Notre Dame’s 93-percent graduation rate is bettered by only Boston College’s 96 percent and Northwestern’s 95 percent.

Fighting Irish football players graduated at an 80-percent rate, fifth nationally behind Duke, Vanderbilt University, Boston College and Northwestern and first among the nation’s top 25 programs. Among the Big East Conference institutions, the 80-percent graduation rate of the Notre Dame men’s basketball program is second only to St. John’s University at 85 percent.

Notre Dame graduated 82 percent of its African-American student-athletes, third to Duke and Stanford University, at 94 and 83 percent, respectively.

Note: See the accompanying charts for more information.

All Student-Athletes
     Institution        %1.    Duke              922.    Notre Dame        883.    Stanford          864.    Northwestern      855.    Virginia          846.    Boston College    83(tie) Vanderbilt        838.    Penn State        79(tie) SMU               79(tie) Michigan State    79

Male Student-Athletes
    Institution        %1.   Duke              922.   Notre Dame        863.   Stanford          854.   Vanderbilt        815.   Northwestern      80(tie)Virginia          807.   Boston College    77(tie)SMU               779.   Penn State        7510.  Illinois          71(tie)Rice              71(tie)Wake Forest       71

Big East ConferenceMen's Basketball
       Institution        %1.     St. John's        852.     Notre Dame        803.     Providence        75(tie)  Villanova         755.     West Virginia     626.     Rutgers           567.     Georgetown        538.     Miami             50(tie)  Seton Hall        5010.    Boston College    4711.    Pittsburgh        4012.    Connecticut       2913.    Syracuse          25

Female Student-Athletes
      Institution        %1.    Boston College    962.    Northwestern      953.    Notre Dame        934.    Duke              92(tie) Virginia          926.    Michigan          917.    Rice              908.    Stanford          89(tie) Vanderbilt        8910.   Virginia Tech     88

Football Student-Athletes
     Institution         %1.    Duke              932.    Vanderbilt        853.    Boston College    834.    Northwestern      815.    Notre Dame        806.    Oregon State      787.    Illinois          77(tie) SMU               779.    Penn State        74(tie) Tulane            74(tie) Virginia          74

African-AmericanStudent-Athletes
    Institution         %1.    Duke             942.    Stanford         833.    Notre Dame       824.    Vanderbilt       815.    Virginia         79(tie) Northwestern     797.    SMU              768.    Penn State       729.    Rice             7110    Oregon State     70

All statistics based on the 1988-91 entering classes for Division I-A institutions