NCAA report says UA student-athlete graduation success rate up to 76%

University of Arkansas student-athletes that entered school in a four-year period from 2005 to 2008 matched the school record graduation success rate (GSR) of 76%, according to a report released on Wednesday (Nov. 4) by the NCAA.

The latest GSR marked the seventh-consecutive rate of more than 70% by Razorback student-athletes and equaled the highest rate since the GSR was introduced in 2005. Last year, Arkansas also posted a GSR of 76% for students who entered school from 2004-07.

The GSR was developed as an improved measurement tool for tracking student-athletes’ academic progress leading toward graduation. The GSR is a four-year snapshot of a program’s academic progress. The University of Arkansas has improved its GSR rate since the measurement was implemented 11 years ago rising from an initial rate of 60% to 76% in the numbers released on Wednesday.

The GSR for all NCAA institutions was released on Wednesday. The GSR was established to more accurately gauge academic progress among student-athletes. Traditional federal graduation rates, which do not account for transfers or other student-athletes that leave institutions in good academic standing, were also released. That rate, based on student-athletes who enrolled full-time in fall 2008, is 49%.

In addition to the GSR, the NCAA established the Academic Progress Rate (APR) that provides institutions with a more real-time indicator of academic success. Last summer, Arkansas exceeded the APR benchmark in all 19 sports for the third consecutive year, including each sport exceeding the benchmark by at least eight points.

In 2014-15, Razorback student-athletes posted a program record 3.24 cumulative GPA. In the fall semester, 14 Razorback teams earned a GPA of 3.0 or better while in the spring, 16 teams exceeded that mark. In the spring 2015 semester, more than 60 percent of Razorback student-athletes achieved a GPA of 3.0, marking the 11th consecutive semester the GPA exceeded 3.0.