INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – University of Portland athletics posted a 93 percent student-athlete Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to the latest data released by the NCAA on Tuesday. The GSR measures graduation rates for the most recent six-year graduating class of incoming student-athletes who enrolled between 2010-2013.
It marks the ninth consecutive year that Portland posted a GSR above 90 percent as a department.
"It is nice to see the numbers representative of the hard work and emphasis our department places on graduating student-athletes," Portland Vice President for Athletics, Scott Leykam noted. "We do not take for granted the challenges of academics in collegiate athletics and have prioritized support resources to ensure all of our student-athletes have a path to graduation. It is rewarding to see the hard work and effort put forth by students, coaches and staff has resulted in such great success."
Portland's men's cross country and track & field, men's soccer and women's cross country and track & field teams and women's tennis each posted perfect scores during the most recent cohort. Eight of the 11 Pilot teams represented in the data posted a score of 90 percent or better.
The Division I Board of Directors launched the GSR in 1998 in response to college and university presidents who wanted data that more accurately reflected the mobility of college students than the federal graduation rate. The federal rate counts any student who leaves a school as an academic failure, no matter whether he or she enrolls at another school. Also, the federal rate does not recognize students who enter school as transfer students.
The GSR formula removes from the rate student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible and includes student-athletes who transfer to a school after initially enrolling elsewhere. This calculation makes it a more complete and accurate look at student-athlete success. The federal graduation rate, however, remains the only measure to compare student-athletes with the general student body.
