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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 2012 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 fourth straight year that Iowa has posted a 90 percent GSR. This year’s mark ranks sixth in the Big Ten and is above the national average (88 percent) across all Division I schools.
Seven UI teams scored a perfect GSR: men’s gymnastics, 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 10 years, volleyball and men’s golf posted perfect marks for the past six years, and women’s gymnastics posted a perfect score the last four years. Fourteen of Iowa’s 24 teams posted GSR’s that were at or above last year’s rate.
“Our student-athletes, coaches, and staff members carry out our department value statement to ‘Win. Graduate. Do It Right.’ daily,” said Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair Gary Barta. “Our students continue to strive for excellence in the classroom, and the graduation rates achieved this year are yet another example of that success. I love their intensity and commitment to compete in the classroom as well as in competition.”
Student-athletes who entered the University of Iowa in the fall of 2012 graduated at a rate of 73 percent when the rate was calculated under the criteria of the federal government’s benchmark for graduation success. This is equal to the score posted by the University of Iowa student-body. The UI’s FGR four-class average (2009-2012) score of 76 ranks sixth in the Big Ten. Eighteen of Iowa’s teams are above the national average across all Division I schools. One Hawkeye team – men’s gymnastics – 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.
