In addition to the Division II Academic Success Rate, the NCAA also released additional research on Division I graduation rates.

Research from the federal graduation-rate methodology required through the Student Right-to-Know Act shows that Division I student-athletes continue to outpace their student-body counterparts in the classroom. Student-athletes in the entering class of 1999 graduated at a rate of 63 percent, two percentage points higher than the student-body rate. Both percentages are one point higher than the previous year. Every class since 1986 has demonstrated that student-athletes have graduated at rates higher than those of the general student body.

"The academic achievement of student-athletes is a great success story," said NCAA President Myles Brand. "But this isn’t the end of that story. There is room for improvement, particularly in certain sports, and we expect rates in all sports to continue to rise as our recently implemented academic reforms take hold."

NCAA Executive Committee Chair Walter Harrison said the fact that student-athletes routinely outperform the student body in the classroom runs counter to public opinion.

"These success rates fly in the face of public perception," said the University of Hartford president. "The fact is that student-athletes are competitive people, and if you challenge them to meet certain academic standards — regardless of race and background — they tend to meet them. Our graduation-rate data show that not only do student-athletes meet those challenges, they are thriving under them."

Release of the federal rate follows an announcement earlier this fall of the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate for Division I, which also tracks student-athlete academic success but does so more accurately than the federal rate because it includes transfers (see the October 9 NCAA News). The GSR accounts for student-athletes who leave an institution in good academic standing and student-athletes who transfer into an institution and graduate. The federal rate includes neither cohort.

The GSR for the entering class of 1999 was 77 percent, up from 76 percent for the previous class. Brand set an aspirational goal of 80 percent for Division I student-athletes within the next several years.

Key findings from the federal rate include:

Male student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 56 percent, an increase of one percentage point over the previous year and slightly below the male student body federal rate of 58 percent. The GSR for male student-athletes is 70 percent.

African-American male student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 48 percent, compared to 37 percent for African-American male students. The GSR for African-American male student-athletes is 55 percent.

Female student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 71 percent, seven points higher than the female student body federal rate of 64 percent. The GSR for female student-athletes is 86 percent.

African-American female student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 66 percent, up three points from last year and significantly higher than the 50 percent federal graduation rate for African-American female students. The GSR for African-American female student-athletes is 74 percent.

Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 55 percent, unchanged from last year. The GSR for FBS players is 66 percent.

African-American players in the FBS graduated at a federal rate of 49 percent, the same rate as the previous year. The GSR for African-American football student-athletes in the FBS is 56 percent.

White football student-athletes in the FBS graduated at a rate of 64 percent in the federal rate, up from 63 percent the previous year. The GSR for white football student-athletes in the FBS is 79 percent.

Division I men’s basketball student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 46 percent, up from 43 percent the previous year. The GSR for men’s basketball student-athletes is 59 percent.

Division I African-American men’s basketball student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 42 percent, up from 38 percent the previous year and five points higher than the rate for African-American male students. The GSR for African-American men’s basketball players is 51 percent.

White Division I men’s basketball players graduated at a federal rate of 52 percent, a one-point drop from the previous year and below the federal rate of 61 percent for white male students. The GSR for white men’s basketball players is 76 percent.

Division I women’s basketball student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 64 percent, up one point from the previous year. The GSR for women’s basketball student-athletes is 82 percent.

Division I African-American women’s basketball student-athletes graduated at a 63 percent federal rate, a seven-point increase over last year’s 56 percent rate. The GSR for African-American women’s basketball student-athletes is 72 percent.

Division I white women’s basketball student-athletes graduated at a federal rate of 66 percent, down three points from the previous year. The GSR for white women’s basketball student-athletes is 89 percent.