UI grad rates shine

From UI sports info:

UI STUDENT-ATHLETES SHINE IN ANNUAL NCAA REPORT

Four teams perfect, UI football sets program high

IOWA CITY, Iowa - - Four University of Iowa teams scoring a perfect 100, the baseball team besting the national average by 25 points and the UI football program establishing a program high were the highlights of the NCAA's annual Graduation Success Rate report released late last week.

The UI's women's basketball, field hockey, golf and women's gymnastics programs all received perfect scores of 100 in the GSR, the NCAA's measure of academic success. The perfect score by Larissa Libby's gymnastics squad marked the fifth straight year of perfection for the Hawkeyes. It was the second straight perfect score for Lisa Bluder's women's basketball program.

The Iowa baseball team's GSR of 95 was 25 points better than the national average for NCAA Division I baseball programs (70). And, the GSR of 79 registered by the Iowa football program was 12 points higher than the national average for its peer group (67) and an all-time high for the program.

The Hawkeyes' GSR also compared very favorably with other teams ranked in last week's Bowl Championship Series standings. Iowa, the No. 18 team in that elite list, ranked third behind Stanford (GSR of 86 percent, 13th in this week's BCS) and Miami, Fla. (81 and 22, respectively).

Iowa's cumulative GSR – the average for all 24 sports at the UI – was 84, a mark that bested the national average by five points.

“As always, the credit goes to our student-athletes for their commitment to the academic piece of their experience at the University of Iowa,” said Gary Barta, the UI's director of athletics.

“Then, of course, our coaching staff and our academic support staff need to be commended for their contributions and hard work. We take seriously our commitment to the academic success of our student-athletes at the UI and this report reflects that commitment.”

The NCAA uses its own formula to calculate the graduation success rates of Division I athletes. The figures are different from the graduation rates calculated by the U.S. Department of Education. Both provide students a six-year window to graduate. However, the NCAA does not penalize institutions when student-athletes transfer to other colleges, as long as they depart in good academic standing.

In addition, the NCAA's GSR calculation subtracts students who are considered allowable exclusions (those who either die or become permanently disabled, those who leave the school to join the armed forces, foreign services or attend a church mission), as well as those who would have been academically eligible to compete had they returned to the institution.

2010 NCAA Graduation Success Rates: The University of Iowa

GSR for student-athletes who enrolled in fall 2003

Iowa National

UI Athletics Department 84 79

Baseball 95 70

Men's Basketball 55 65

Women's Basketball 100 83

Men's Cross Country/Track 80 74

Women's Cross Country/Track 76 85

Football 79 67

Field Hockey 100 93

Men's Golf 57 81

Women's Golf 100 88

Men's Gymnastics 88 87

Women's Gymnastics 100 93

Women's Soccer 88 89

Rowing 93 92

Softball 95 91

Men's Swimming/Diving 77 85

Women's Swimming/Diving 95 91

Men's Tennis 86 84

Volleyball 78 88

Wrestling 63 72

Note regarding the women's tennis program at the UI: Consistent with NCAA practice per the Student Right-to-Know Act, any time a category of student-athletes containing cohort numbers includes only one or two student-athletes, the data in that category is suppressed so that no individual can be identified.