SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference exceled in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) scores released Thursday, matching or exceeding the FCS average in seven men’s sports including baseball, basketball and football, and five women’s sports.
 
“These graduation success rate numbers are just as important as wins on the scoreboard,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said. “Academics is a foremost priority with the Southern Conference and it shows. Our student-athletes and member institutions should be proud of their commitment to academics and graduating their students.”
 
Fifty-nine SoCon programs earned perfect scores of 100 for the 2011-14 cohorts, an improvement of four from last year’s GSR data. Mixed rifle is counted toward the men’s totals. Nine of the 10 league schools had at least one men’s program earn a perfect score, while eight SoCon schools had at least one women’s program earn a 100.
 
Wofford led the way with 11 perfect scores, with five men’s sports and all six women’s sports taking the distinction. Samford was second with 10 perfect scores, with four on the men’s side and six on the women’s side. Furman had nine perfect scores, including six women’s programs.
 
For the third year in a row, Samford was the lone SoCon school to exceed the FCS average in every sport it sponsors.
 
Samford and Wofford led the league with overall GSR scores of 97.
 
Eight of the nine SoCon volleyball programs posted perfect scores, while six of the league’s eight men’s tennis teams and men’s golf programs turned in 100s. SoCon volleyball programs combined for a GSR of 99, six points above the FCS average, while men’s golf and men’s tennis both combined for scores of 96, each of which is five points higher than the FCS average in those sports. Every SoCon women’s sport had at least three institutions post perfect scores.
 
All nine SoCon football teams met or exceeded the FCS average, with the league’s average of 89 checking in at 10 points higher than the FCS average. Seven of the league’s eight baseball programs, eight of 10 men’s basketball programs, eight of the 10 men’s cross country/track and field programs and six of the eight tennis programs and two of the three mixed rifled programs also exceeded the FCS average, with those sports all collectively exceeding their FCS averages. Men’s soccer met it.
 
On the women’s side, nine of 10 cross country/track and field programs; eight of nine volleyball squads; and six basketball (of eight), women’s soccer (of 10) and softball (of seven) programs exceeded their respective FCS averages, as did the SoCon in general in those sports.
 
Developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative, the GSR is used to assess the academic success of student-athletes. The GSR measures graduation rates at Division I institutions and includes students transferring into the institutions. The GSR also allows schools to subtract student-athletes who leave their institutions prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained.

For the NCAA's full release, click here.
 
ABOUT THE GSR
The Graduation Success Rate was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately measure the success of Division I student-athletes.
• The GSR takes into account the many different academic paths followed by today’s college students.
• Unlike the federal graduation rate, the GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.
• By counting incoming transfer students and midyear enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by approximately 37 percent.
• Under the GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are essentially passed to the receiving institution’s GSR cohort.
• The NCAA also calculates the federal graduation rate for student-athletes, because it is the only rate to compare student-athletes to the general student body.
• This year marks the 20th year of GSR data that have been collected. The NCAA began collecting GSR data with the entering freshman class of 1995. The latest entering class for which data are available is 2014.