Southern Conference

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference exceled in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) scores released Tuesday. The Graduation Success Rate data below is for the 2015 to 2018 cohorts.

  
OVERALL

• Samford leads the conference with 11 of the 13 Bulldog teams achieving a perfect score of 100.  
• Samford and Furman topped the SoCon with both institutions averaging an institutional GSR score of 97.
• Five member institutions averaged an overall GSR of 90 or higher.
• Fifty-six SoCon teams earned a perfect score.

MEN’S SPORTS

• Twenty men’s programs posted 100s.
• Furman, Mercer, Samford, and Wofford each had three or more men’s/mixed teams achieve a score of 100.
• The men’s basketball squads at Furman, Mercer, and Samford all recorded perfect scores.  Conference members averaged an 87 GSR in men’s basketball, exceeding the Division I average by 2 points
• Among men’s sports, tennis leads the way with an average team GSR of 93 and five programs attaining a perfect score.
• Six football programs equaled or exceeded the FCS average of 79 with The Citadel leading the conference with a score of 94.  The conference average exceeded the FCS average by 4 points.

WOMEN’S SPORTS

• Thirty-six women’s programs accomplished a perfect score of 100. 
• Samford leads the conference with all seven women’s teams achieving a score of 100 for the second consecutive year. Furman, Mercer, Samford, WCU, and Wofford all had at least four women’s teams post perfect scores.
• Softball and Volleyball topped the women’s sports with an average team GSR of 96, trailed closely by tennis with an average team GSR of 95.  Golf, tennis, and volleyball each had six teams achieve 100’s.
• In women’s basketball, teams from Furman, Mercer, and Samford all earned a perfect score of 100.
• Every women’s sport had three or more institutions post perfect scores.  

 
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 24th year of GSR data that have been collected. The NCAA began collecting GSR data with the entering freshman class of 1995.