STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford University department of athletics registered an overall graduation rate of 98 percent in the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report released by the NCAA on Tuesday. Included in that number were 20 Cardinal teams which earned a 100 percent graduation rate.
Both the GSR and Federal Graduation Rates (FGR) are based upon classes from 2004-07 and show the percentage of student-athletes earning a degree within six years. The NCAA developed the GSR to account for transfer student-athletes, mid-year enrollees and others not tracked by the FGR. Stanford student-athletes have a FGR four-class average of 95 percent.
Last year’s GSR numbers showed a 97 percent rate and 19 Stanford programs with perfect graduation rates. The corresponding FGR was 93 percent.
Back to 2014’s numbers, the 11 women’s programs to achieve perfect GSR scores, included rowing, fencing, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, synchronized swimming, tennis, volleyball and water polo.
Perfect ratings were also achieved the nine men's programs including baseball, cross country/track and field, fencing, golf, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, water polo and wrestling.
Stanford's football program received a GSR of 99 percent, which was the highest mark in the Pac-12 and one that ranked second nationally among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions (University of Texas at San Antonio). The mark also topped every Ivy League school.
Other programs to receive GSR scores of 90 or higher were men’s swimming & diving (94), men’s volleyball (93), women’s basketball (93) and field hockey (96). No programs received graduation rates lower than 83 percent.
While 98 percent of Stanford student-athletes completed degrees within the GSR definition, they also do so through challenging majors. Human biology, science, technology and society (STS) and engineering are among the top five majors for Stanford student-athletes and non-athletes alike.
Stanford has claimed the Directors’ Cup in each of the past 20 years. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding intercollegiate athletic department. The Cardinal has claimed 26 national championships since the 2004-05 academic year, the first year included in the latest GSR data. Stanford has earned 124 team national championships all-time, including 105 in NCAA sports.
The GSR is the NCAA's more comprehensive calculation of student-athlete academic success. Unlike the federally mandated methodology the NCAA rate includes incoming transfer students who graduate as well as and students enrolling in the spring semester who receive athletic aid and graduate. The GSR excludes from the calculation student-athletes who leave an institution who are academically eligible to compete such as transfer students.
The less inclusive FGR is limited to individuals in the cohort who entered their freshmen year on athletic aid while also counting any individuals in the cohort that leave the institution as a non-graduate (including transfer students who may graduate elsewhere).
By contrast, the APR, or Academic Progress Rate, is a year-by-year gauge of eligibility and retention for Division I scholarship student-athletes that was established in 2004. It is a composite team measurement based upon how individual team members perform academically. The NCAA APR threshold is 925, which is the equivalent of a 50-percent graduation rate.