Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Student-Athlete Graduation Rates Rank Among Nation's Best

Sept. 24, 2003

The University of Notre Dame ranks among the top 10 Division I-A institutions in five major student-athlete graduate rate categories – overall, football, men, women and African-American – according to statistics released this month by the NCAA.

The federally mandated 2003 NCAA Graduation Rates Report, the 13th such survey issued by the association, covers students who enrolled between 1993 and 1996 at Division I institutions, including 117 in Division I-A. 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 NCAA formula, Notre Dame graduated a four-year average of 87 percent of its student-athletes, third only to Duke and Northwestern Universities, both at 89 percent. The national average for Division I-A schools is 60 percent.

Among student-athletes who completed all four years of athletic eligibility at Notre Dame, 99 percent earned their degrees. The national average was 83 percent.

Notre Dame graduated 92 percent of all women competing in varsity athletics, to rank second among peer institutions behind Northwestern at 98 percent. Among men, Notre Dame’s 85 percent rate was second only to Duke at 88 percent.

Notre Dame graduated 78 percent of its African-American student-athletes, ranking behind Rice, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Duke.

Notre Dame football players graduated at an 81 percent rate to rank seventh nationally behind Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern, Syracuse, Rice and Stanford.

The NCAA recently presented an Academic Achievement Award to Notre Dame for its best-in-the-nation one-year graduation rate of 92 percent for all student-athletes who enrolled in 1996.

The top 10 in each category follows:

2003 NCAA
Graduation Rates Report
All data for student-athletes who enrolled between 1993 and 1996 (numbers are percentages)

All Student-Athletes

1. Duke 89
(tie) Northwestern 89
3. Notre Dame 87
(tie) Stanford 87
5. Rice 82
6. Virginia 81
7. Boston College 80
8. Penn State 79
(tie) Syracuse 79
10 Vanderbilt 78
?

Male Student-Athletes

1. Duke 88
2. Notre Dame 85
3. Stanford 83
4. Northwestern 82
5. Rice 79
6. Virginia 77
7. Boston College 76
8. Syracuse 75
9. Wake Forest 74
10. Vanderbilt 73
?

Female Student-Athletes

1. Northwestern 98
2. Notre Dame 92
(tie) Duke 92
(tie) Stanford 92
5. Rice 90
6. Penn State 87
(tie) Vanderbilt 87
8. Michigan 86
(tie) Virginia 86
10. Miami (Ohio) 85
(tie) Syracuse 85
(tie) Virginia Tech 85
?

Football Student-Athletes

1. Vanderbilt 84
2. Duke 83
(tie) Northwestern 83
(tie) Syracuse 83
5. Rice 82
(tie) Stanford 82
7. Notre Dame 81
8. Boston College 79
9. Penn State 76
(tie) Tulane 76
(tie) Virginia 76
(tie) Wake Forest 76
?

African-American Student-Athletes

1. Rice 87
2. Stanford 85
(tie) Vanderbilt 85
4. Northwestern 83
5. Duke 82
6. Notre Dame 78
7. Tulane 76
8. Syracuse 73
9. Baylor 70
10. Boston College 69