Earlier this month the NCAA released a report stating that Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for four-year Division I college athletes had risen on several different accounts. Percentages of GSR rose for swimming and diving teams ranking them among the highest of their peers, with only women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis in front of them.
Team GPA’s of 3.0 or higher were posted by 174 women’s teams and 92 men’s teams last semester. There were also one hundred teams (71 women’s teams, 19 men’s) that posted perfect 100 % GSR’s.
Full CSCAA Press Release Below:
| For swimmers and divers, a gold medal is the ultimate achievement. In the latest release of academic success among student-athletes, however, it appears that swimmers and divers are succeeding as much in the classroom as they are in the pool.
NCAA President Mark Emmert cited the role of academic reforms that have helped raise overall graduation rates, but in the case of swimming and diving, student-athletes appear to be doing just fine. In a release on November 4th, the NCAA reported that the four-year Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for Division I college athletes has climbed to 83 percent. The performances of swimmers and divers in the classroom outpace those overall improvements. Swimming and diving teams four-year GSR rose to 90.1%, seven points higher than other teams and nearly 25% higher than the rest of their student peers. The four-year GSR among women’s teams rose a full point to 93% while men’s teams stayed at 86%. Both men and women ranked second among sports with at least one hundred sponsoring institutions with women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis leading the way. These results reflect the culmination of swimmers and divers’ classroom efforts. Last semester 174 women’s teams and 92 men’s teams earned GPA’s of 3.0 or higher. Joel Shinofield, Executive Director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) attributes much of swimmers and divers’ success due to their drive, the lessons they learn in the pool as well as the high expectations of their coaches. We know that when college students have a strong mentor and are engaged they perform better in the classroom and graduate at a higher rate. “We are finding that swimmers and divers tend to take especially rigorous course loads.” According to Shinofield, 40% of all Division I swimmers and divers, women and men, are pursuing degrees in the STEM fields based on a survey conducted last spring. Swimmers and divers also continued to excel vis-à-vis the rest of the student body. Of 327 Division I teams, all but ten equaled or bettered the graduation rate of their student body. On average, the graduation rates among men’s swimmers and divers exceeded the rest of the student body by 22% while female swimmers and divers were 18.9% higher. Over one hundred swimming & diving teams posted perfect 100% GSR’s. These included 71 Division I Women’s teams and nineteen men’s teams. Full details of the NCAA report can be found at: http://www.ncaa.org/about/ The complete list of Swimming & Diving teams earning a 3.0 GPA or higher can be found at:http://www.cscaa.org/scholar- |
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Teams Earning Perfect GSR ScoresSource: NCAA report on GSR from entering class of 2008.
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