CLARKSVILLE,
Tenn. - Austin Peay State
University's athletics department received its annual NCAA graduation success
rate report, which included the current federal graduation rates for each of
the department's 13 sports.
According to the NCAA's graduation success rate (GSR),
Austin Peay graduated 73 percent of its student-athletes who entered college in 2001, improving on its
percentage from the previous year (71 percent). It is the third consecutive
year Austin Peay has shown improvement in its graduation-success rate.
Ten of the department's 13
programs measured in the report either maintained their average or showed
improvement from the previous report. That included two programs - men's tennis
and women's volleyball - which reported 100 percent of its
student-athletes obtained their degree during the
measured period.
The NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate to more
accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The rate holds
institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation
rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every
sport.
Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for
outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are included in the
receiving institution's GSR cohort.
By counting incoming transfer students and midyear
enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for
graduation by 37 percent.
The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are
based on the four entering classes from 2001-2002 through 2004-05. Nearly
105,000 student-athletes are included in the most recent four classes using the
GSR methodology, as compared to about 76,500 in the federal rate.
The department's federal
graduation rate number was slightly behind its GSR counterpart, with 67 percent
of first-time freshman obtaining their degree within six years. The federal
graduation rate does not account for transfers in or out of an athletics
department. Additionally, the athletics department's graduation rate was more
than double the university's graduation rate (33 percent).
This marks the 11th year that GSR
data have been collected. The NCAA began collecting GSR data with the entering
freshman class of 1995.
- AP -
