Dec. 11, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Nine of the University of Notre Dame’s athletic programs posted federal graduation rates of 100 percent, according to figures released earlier this fall by the NCAA.

The federal figures showed that — among Notre Dame’s men’s sports — fencing, lacrosse, and swimming and diving achieved 100 percent scores. Cross country/track and field scored 95, soccer scored 94, tennis 93, and hockey 92 (good for first place).

Among the Irish women’s programs, cross country/track and field, fencing, golf, lacrosse, rowing and tennis all posted 100 scores. Swimming and diving scored 96 (good for first), and volleyball scored 91.

Notre Dame ranked second among the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) football-playing institutions in 100 scores with its nine. Stanford had 11, Duke eight – and Northwestern seven.

Eleven Irish programs had federal rates that ranked them first within their sport among the NCAA FBS subset of 119 schools, while four other programs finished among the top seven:

• Men’s lacrosse finished by itself in first place with its 100 score.
• Men’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Penn State, Rutgers and Stanford.
• Men’s swimming at 100 tied for first with Maryland, Miami (Fla.) and Rice.
• Women’s cross country/track and field at 100 tied for first with Duke.
• Women’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Northwestern and Penn State.
• Women’s golf at 100 tied for first with 15 other schools.
• Women’s lacrosse at 100 tied for first with Boston College, California, Duke, Penn State, Stanford and Virginia.
• Women’s rowing at 100 tied for first with Duke, Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina.
• Women’s tennis at 100 tied for first with 19 other schools.
• Hockey at 92 ranked first – followed by Miami (Ohio) at 69, Boston College (68) and Michigan (65).
• Women’s swimming at 96 finished tied for first with Iowa State.
• Men’s soccer at 94 ranked tied for fourth (with Purdue), behind Duke, Stanford and Virginia Tech (all at 100).
• Football at 85 tied for fourth with Vanderbilt, behind Stanford (89), Boston College (88) and Duke (86).
• Baseball at 80 ranked sixth behind Boston College (100), Northwestern (96), Stanford (91), Michigan (88) and Buffalo (81).
• Men’s cross country/track and field at 95 ranked seventh — only behind Duke, SMU, Miami (Fla.), New Mexico State, Stanford and Wake Forest (all at 100).

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.

— ND —