INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA on Wednesday released its annual Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data and UTSA has once again reported a department-record GSR of 89 percent, marking the ninth consecutive year the department has posted a GSR of 80 percent or better.
UTSA’s 89 percent GSR is a two-percent increase from the previous record 87 percent GSR reported last year and a six-percent increase from a then-record 83 percent mark in the 2020 report.
“UTSA student-athletes have continued to set new academic standards,” UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos said. “For the ninth consecutive year, we see a positive trend of being above 80 percent and we’re excited to once again set a department record for the third time in the last four reports. Graduating student-athletes is a top priority. This achievement is made possible by their hard work and dedication, coupled with the support of our outstanding academic services staff and the commitment to academics by our coaching staffs.”
A total of 11 UTSA sports programs logged a GSR of 80 percent or better in the latest report. Four teams registered a perfect GSR in the latest report as men’s golf, softball, women’s tennis and volleyball all posted a 100 percent GSR. Additionally, the women’s basketball (93%) baseball (91%), women’s cross country/track & field (90%), football (89%), women’s soccer (88%), women’s golf (86%), men’s cross country/track & field (85%) each posted a GSR over 80 percent.
The latest report also saw UTSA establish new department standards for four-class average and single-year graduation rate.
Figures released Wednesday reflect graduation numbers among student-athletes who entered college in 2016. The NCAA has tracked GSR for more than two decades, and student-athletes have surpassed the original benchmark goal of 80 percent, with long-term graduation rate increases being observed year after year from an overall 74 percent in 2002 to this year's record 91 percent.
NCAA legislation requires member schools to report enrollment (of both student body and student-athletes receiving athletics aid) and student body and student-athlete graduation rates to the NCAA each year. The NCAA then publishes reports on behalf of the member schools to comply with federal reporting requirements.
The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Graduation Rates Survey, which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires, is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original college or university and graduate elsewhere; they are considered nongraduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.
The NCAA GSR differs from the federal calculation in two important ways. First, the GSR holds colleges accountable for those student-athletes who transfer to their school. Second, the GSR does not penalize colleges whose student-athletes leave the institution in good academic standing.