Hawk Talk Monthly — November | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2018-19
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Student-athletes at the University of Iowa tied a school record and outperformed their peers nationally in the classroom, according to data released today by the NCAA.
According to the NCAA’s annual report on the academic successes across the country, student-athletes who entered the University of Iowa in the fall of 2011 graduated at a rate of 90 percent, when the rate was calculated using the criteria for the NCAA’s “Graduation Success Rate,” or “GSR.”
It is the third straight year that Iowa has posted a 90 percent GSR. This year’s mark ranks fourth in the Big Ten Conference and ties Drake University as the highest in the state of Iowa. All Hawkeye teams were at or above 80 percent.
Seven UI teams scored a perfect GSR: soccer, women’s swimming, field hockey, men’s golf, volleyball, women’s golf, and women’s gymnastics. Field hockey and women’s golf have posted perfect GSR scores for the past nine years, volleyball and men’s golf posted perfect marks for the past five years, and women’s gymnastics posted a perfect score the last three years. Sixteen of Iowa’s 24 teams posted GSR’s that were at or above last year’s rate.
“The continued high level of academic success attained by our student-athletes supports our department mission to Win, Graduate, and Do It Right,” said Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair Gary Barta. “Our student-athletes, coaches, and staff members take great pride in these academic accomplishments. The academic success represents the University of Iowa in the highest regard and provides further example of their dedication to excellence.”
Student-athletes who entered the University of Iowa from 2008-11 graduated at a rate of 76 percent when the rate was calculated under the criteria of the federal government’s benchmark for graduation success. The UI’s FGR score of 76 ranks well above the national FGR of 68 percent. It marks the eighth consecutive year that the federal graduation rate for UI student-athletes has exceeded 70 percent. That total is also four points higher than the score posted by the University of Iowa entire student body. Two Hawkeye teams – women’s tennis and volleyball – earned perfect FGR rates.
The NCAA introduced the GSR in 2005 to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. Unlike the federal graduation rate, the GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees.