The NCAA News - News and Features

July 7, 1997

Graduation rates up again

In Division I, 58 percent of student-athletes get degree; athletes' rate exceeds nonathletes' for fifth straight year

Division I student-athletes who entered college in 1990 graduated at a higher rate than the general student body -- the fifth consecutive entering class to earn that distinction.

"I am pleased to see that we are continuing to achieve our goal of higher graduation rates," said NCAA Executive Director Cedric W. Dempsey. "The NCAA's efforts to increase academic standards for incoming student-athletes are having a positive effect, as illustrated by the consistent improvement in their graduation rates."

Student-athletes who entered college in 1990 graduated at a rate of 58 percent, compared to a 56 percent rate for all students. It is the greatest difference between the groups since 1986, the first year that Proposition 48 academic standards went into effect. Student-athletes in the two classes before the new standard graduated at a rate one to two percent lower than the general student body.

Effect on African-Americans

Although black student-athletes continued to graduate at a rate higher than black students in general, the latest study did raise questions about what effect different academic standards are having on participation by African-Americans.

African-Americans made up 27.3 percent of the 1985 entering class, the last one not to be affected by Prop 48 standards. In 1986, the percentage of African-American participants fell to 23.6 percent. In the next two years, African-American participation fell slightly more, to 23.4 percent and to 23.2 percent.

Data analysis had indicated that the percentage of African-American participation likely would rebound to pre-Prop 48 levels, and the 1989 entering class did rise to 25.0 percent. However, the rate this year stayed essentially the same at 24.9 percent, 2.4 percent below the 1985 level.

The graduation rate for all black student-athletes for 1990 was 46 percent, the same as for 1989.

The more demanding standards of 1992 Convention Proposal No. 16 became effective in 1995 and 1996, so the effect of that legislation on graduation rates will not be determined until 2001 and 2002. The effect of Prop 16 on eligibility, however, has been substantial, especially among black prospective student-athletes. More than 25 percent of those mentioned on an Institutional Request List in 1996 were determined to be ineligible, according to data compiled by the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

Conservative representation

The graduation-rates data, as collected from all NCAA Division I members and published in the 1997 NCAA Division I Graduation-Rates Report, is a conservative representation of the graduation rate. Only student-athletes who enroll as freshmen, receive athletically related financial aid and who graduate from the institution within six years of initial enrollment are tracked.

In the most recent study, black male and all female student-athletes continued to graduate at rates much higher than their peers in the general student body.

Black females, who traditionally have graduated at a much higher rate than the black female student body, did so again. They graduated at a 59 percent rate, which was 17 percent higher than for the comparable population in the general student body. Forty-three percent of the black male student-athletes graduated, which was 10 percent higher than for the overall black male student population, while white female student-athletes graduated at a rate of 70 percent, nine percent more than all white females.

White male student-athletes and white males in the general student body both graduated at a 57 percent rate. The rate is a two percent drop from the previous year for white student-athletes.

Effect in specific sports

There also was interesting information within specific sports: