Dec. 10, 2006

2006 NCAA GSR Data for the University of Dayton

INDIANAPOLIS - The University of Dayton is one of the top schools among NCAA Division I institutions and the best in the Atlantic 10 conference at graduating its student-athletes.

According to the 2006 NCAA Graduation Success Rate report, UD graduated 96 percent of its student-athletes who began their careers between 1996 and 1999.

The Flyers ranked first among Atlantic 10 institutions and joined the likes of Georgetown University, Boston College, Stanford University, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame and Duke University as the schools best at graduating student-athletes.

"The academic success of our student-athletes is the single most significant marker of how we are doing as coaches and staff," stated UD Vice President and Director of Athletics, Ted Kissell. "We're pleased with the results and proud of the young people in our sports programs."

The NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) captures the student-athlete graduation success rate in sports that offer scholarships. For those sports that do not offer athletic scholarships, the NCAA counts those student-athletes who are recruited.

Overall, 12 Flyer athletics programs earned a GSR of 90 percent or higher. The UD men's cross country and men's tennis teams, as well as the women's basketball, track, cross country, tennis, soccer and volleyball, each achieved a 100 percent GSR. Football was close to that with a 96 GSR, followed by men's soccer (94), softball (93), men's basketball (91) and baseball (90). The women's and men's golf programs held GSRs of 88 and 86 respectively and each ranked at least 10 points ahead of the national average.

Of the 14 UD athletics teams included in the report, 11 ranked among the top three in their conferences, including eight that were either first or tied for the top spot. Men's basketball led the A-10 in GSR, and women's basketball was one of four teams in the conference with a 100 GSR.

The Flyers improved by two percent from 2005 and ranked higher than the Division I national GSR of 77 percent.

Success in the classroom is nothing new for UD student-athletes. The Flyers combined cumulative grade point average is above a 3.0. In addition, UD has had 27 Academic All-Americans in the last six years.

Dayton is consistently among the league leaders in placing student-athletes on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll, even though the Flyers participate in fewer A-10 sports than all but one school. UD also had the most players on the PFL Academic Honor Roll for the fifth straight year in 2005.

The UD women's rowing team was not included in the report because it was not a varsity sport until the 1999-2000 academic year and did not recruit student-athletes during its first year. In addition, the report combines women's cross country and track and field as one sport.

NCAA President Myles Brand's goal of an 80 percent Graduation Success Rate for Division I is a percentage point closer to fruition with the release of recent NCAA data showing the overall GSR for the division at 77 percent, up from 76 percent last year.

"The academic achievement of student-athletes is a great success story," said Brand. "But this isn't the end of that story. There is room for improvement, particularly in certain sports, and we expect rates in all sports to continue to rise as our recently implemented academic reforms take hold."

The NCAA developed the GSR two years ago because the federal graduation rate does not credit institutions with student-athletes who leave in good academic standing or transfers into the school who later graduate.

The GSR accounts for both of those transfer groups, which has resulted in a more accurate depiction of student-athlete academic success, since it captures about 35 percent more student-athletes than the federal methodology.

Under the federal graduation rate, students who transfer to another institution are counted as non-graduates from their initial institution. At the same time, transfers who enter a new institution are not included in the federal calculation at all.

Dayton's federal graduation rate for the 1999-2000 freshmen class was 78 percent and the four-class aggregate came in at 84 percent. UD ranks higher than the national federal graduation rate of 66 percent.