Under new formula, NCAA schools have improved graduation rates

[swok34]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2005-12-19-graduation-rates_x.htm

[vickie1ok]

It's about time the NCAA got up to speed. Not that it affects women's hoops as much as men's sports, but stilll...

It was a stupid calculation in the past.

[Scamp]

Research indicates that complex patterns of college attendance are becoming the norm for U.S. college students — it is estimated that about 60 percent of all new bachelor’s degree recipients are attending more than one undergraduate institution during their collegiate careers.

Overall first-year GSR results indicate that after removing students who leave institutions while academically eligible, about three-fourths of all Division I scholarship student-athletes graduate either from the institution they started at or where they transferred.

http://www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/press_room/2005/december/20051219_gsr_release.html

60% attend more than one college and still earn a degree! I'm astonished.

[MsProudSooner]

When my daughters were at OU, they took a couple of courses at Oklahoma City Community college. I wonder if students like that count into the 'attended more than one college' category.

[spooky]

It's about time the NCAA got up to speed. Not that it affects women's hoops as much as men's sports, but stilll...

It was a stupid calculation in the past.

Very much agreed that this was a good move. It was ridiculous to punish a school because an athlete transferred to another program and graduated there instead.

While on this subject, I'd like to make a big, self-aggrandizing gesture and commend the Baylor athletic department for a pretty amazing performance in these new rankings. 10 out of 13 athletic programs ranked either #1 or #2 in the Big 12 in graduation rates in their sport.

The official site breaks it down:
"Five Baylor teams recorded perfect scores for their graduation rates and 12 of its 13 intercollegiate athletic programs registered marks above the national average in a report released Monday by the NCAA. Baylor had a Big 12-best five programs report perfect graduation success rate (GSR) scores and each of its programs scored 80 or higher in the national survey of Division I institutions. The defending NCAA champion Lady Bear basketball team had a perfect GSR score of 100 percent, as did Baylor's women's golf, women's tennis, women's track & cross country and women's volleyball teams. All 13 of Baylor's programs scored at or above the Division I national GSR average and seven--women's basketball (100 percent), women's golf (100), women's tennis (100), women's track and cross country (100), women's volleyball (100), football (88) and baseball (85) led the Big 12 Conference, while the Bears' men's basketball (79), women's softball (94) and men's track & cross country (82) programs both finished No. 2 in the league"


Congrats also to all of the other Big 12 brethren (and even sistern!!) who find a way to field quality teams on the court and in the classroom.