Academics Southern Conference

SoCon Teams Continue to Excel in Classroom

Division I student-athletes continue to perform well in the classroom, and more of them are graduating from college, according to the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate figures. The latest GSR figures show that 77 percent of student-athletes who began college from 1997-2000 graduated within six years.

 

The NCAA developed the GSR three years ago to more accurately assess long-term student-athlete academic success. The GSR differs from the federally mandated graduation-rate methodology in that it counts transfers into and out of an institution.

 

Figures released include overall GSR data at the national level for all Division I student-athletes and nationally for each sport. In addition, the figures include team GSR and federal graduation rate data for every sports team at every Division I institution. Overall GSR and federal graduation rate data per institution (including data reported by ethnicity) will be released later this month. 

 

SoCon highlights:

  • A total of 12 of 15 Southern Conference-sponsored sports exceeded the Division I national average for the sport.
  • Eight of 10 men’s basketball teams exceeded the Division I national average for the sport. The Citadel men’s basketball team posted a perfect score of 100.
  • Seven of nine women’s basketball teams exceeded the Division I national average for the sport. The squads from UNC Greensboro and the College of Charleston posted perfect scores of 100.
  • Five of seven football teams exceeded the Football Championship Subdivision national average for the sport. The Furman (97) squads ranked No. 3 nationally in football.
  • Seven of nine baseball squad exceeded the Division I national average for the sport. The Davidson squad posted a perfect score of 100.
  • Nine of 10 women’s soccer teams exceeded the Division I national average for the sport.  The squads from The Citadel, Furman, Georgia Southern and Wofford posted perfect scores of 100.
  • 45 teams (18 men’s squads and 27 women’s squads) posted perfect scores of 100.
  • Nine Furman squads posted a perfect score of 100.
  • Eight squads from The Citadel posted a perfect score of 100.
  • Eight Wofford squads posted a perfect score of 100.
  • Six of 10 men’s golf squads posted perfects scores of 100 (Appalachian State, The Citadel, Davidson, Furman, Western Carolina and Wofford).
  • Six of nine women’s tennis squads posted perfect scores of 100 (Davidson, Furman, Georgia Southern, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina and Wofford).
  • Nine of 10* institutions had at least two squads with a perfect scores of 100.
  • Four institutions (The Citadel, Davidson, Western Carolina and Wofford) exceeded the Division I national average in every sport they sponsor within the Southern Conference.
  • Samford, which will join the Southern Conference on July 1, 2008, exceeded the Division I national average in 13 of 14 sports.

*No Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data is available for Elon University as it was a Division II member during a portion of the 1997?2000 period.