May 12, 2011

Notre Dame Men’s Sports Again Fare Well in 2010 Graduation Rates
Nine Irish athletic programs post top-rated GSR rates according to NCAA

Nine of the University of Notre Dame’s men’s athletic programs posted Graduation Success Rate numbers that ranked them best in the nation within their sports – and five produced federal graduation rates that led all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) institutions, according to institutional research based on 2010 graduation-rate figures released by the NCAA.

GSR statistics for Irish men’s sports featured eight perfect 100 scores – in baseball, basketball, cross country/track, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer and swimming – plus a 96 in football, a 95 in hockey and a 93 in tennis. The federal figures showed that – among Notre Dame’s men’s sports – cross country/track, fencing, and swimming achieved 100 percent scores. Lacrosse scored 93, golf 92, and hockey 91 among other Irish raw federal scores.

Nine Irish men’s programs had GSR rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset of 120 schools, while one program finished second:

— Baseball at 100 tied for first with Boston College, Stanford, the U.S. Air Force Academy, Virginia and Wake Forest.
— Men’s basketball at 100 tied for first with BYU, Illinois, Marshall, Utah State, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky.
— Men’s cross country/track and field at 100 tied for first – with Central Florida, Miami (Fla.), Rice, Stanford, Tulane and Virginia Tech.
— Men’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Boston College, North Carolina, Rutgers and Stanford.
— Men’s golf at 100 tied for first with 39 other schools.
— Men’s lacrosse at 100 tied for first with Duke.
— Men’s soccer at 100 tied for first with Northwestern.
— Men’s swimming at 100 tied for first with nine other schools.
— Football at 96 finished first – ahead of Duke and Northwestern at 95.
— Hockey at 95 ranked second – behind the U.S. Air Force Academy at 96.

The federal graduation rate methodology used by the Department of Education counts all student-athletes who transfer from or leave an institution for any reason as non-graduates from their initial school, even if they leave in good academic standing.

Five Irish men’s programs had federal rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset, while one program finished second and another one fourth:

— Men’s cross country/track and field at 100 ranked tied for first — with Duke, Idaho, Miami (Fla.), USC, Tulane and Virginia Tech.
— Men’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Rutgers and Stanford.
— Men’s swimming at 100 tied for first with Louisville and Miami (Fla.).
— Men’s lacrosse finished by itself in first place at 93 – followed by Duke (92) and North Carolina (91).
— Men’s hockey at 91 ranked first – followed by Boston College (68), Michigan (65) and Western Michigan (65).
— Men’s soccer at 89 ranked second, behind Duke (91).
— Football at 85 ranked fourth, behind Boston College (87), Duke (86) and Northwestern (86).

Notre Dame Women’s Sports Lead the Way in 2010 Graduation Rates
All 11 Irish athletic programs post top-rated GSR rates according to NCAA

All 11 of the University of Notre Dame’s women’s athletic programs posted perfect Graduation Success Rate numbers that ranked them best in the nation within their sports – and seven produced perfect federal graduation rates that led all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) institutions, according to institutional research based on 2010 graduation-rate figures released by the NCAA.

GSR statistics for Irish women’s sports featured all 11 perfect 100 scores – in basketball, cross country/track, crew/rowing, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball. The federal figures showed that – among Notre Dame’s women’s sports – cross country/track, crew/rowing, fencing, golf, lacrosse, tennis and volleyball achieved 100 percent scores. Women’s swimming scored 96 and women’s soccer 94 among other Irish raw federal scores.

All 11 Irish women’s programs had GSR rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset of 120 schools:

— Women’s basketball at 100 tied for first with 29 other schools.
— Women’s cross country/track and field at 100 tied for first – with10 other schools.
— Women’s crew/rowing at 100 tied for first with Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, USC and Stanford.
— Women’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Northwestern, Rutgers, Stanford and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
— Women’s golf at 100 tied for first with 62 other schools.
— Women’s lacrosse at 100 tied for first with Boston College, Connecticut, Duke, Northwestern, Ohio State, the U.S. Naval Academy, Vanderbilt and Virginia.
— Women’s soccer at 100 tied for first with 25 other schools.
— Softball at 100 tied for first with 17 other schools.
— Women’s swimming at 100 tied for first with 28 other schools.
— Women’s tennis at 100 finished tied for first with 67 other schools.
— Women’s volleyball at 100 ranked tied for first with 42 other schools.

The federal graduation rate methodology used by the Department of Education counts all student-athletes who transfer from or leave an institution for any reason as non-graduates from their initial school, even if they leave in good academic standing.

Seven Irish women’s programs had perfect federal rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset, while one programfinished tied for sixth and another one seventh:

— Women’s cross country/track and field at 100 ranked tied for first – with Boston College and SMU.
— Women’s crew/rowing at 100 tied for first with Stanford.
— Women’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Northwestern and Rutgers.
— Women’s golf at 100 tied for first with 14 other schools.
— Women’s lacrosse at 100 tied for first with Duke and Virginia.
— Women’s tennis at 100 tied for first with 17 other schools.
— Women’s volleyball at 100 tied for first with Bowling Green, Louisville, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Tulane, Utah and Wake Forest.
— Women’s swimming at 96 tied for sixth (with Missouri) behind Iowa State, Louisville, Marshall, Stanford (all 100) and Miami (Ohio) at 97.
— Women’s soccer at 94 ranked seventh, behind Maryland, Penn State, Vanderbilt (all 100), Rice (96), Duke and Michigan State (both 95).