Nov. 19, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri was one of only 14 public Bowl Championship Series (BCS) women's basketball programs in the country to record a perfect Graduation Success Rate (GSR) from 2000-2003, according to the NCAA. The national average during that span was 85 percent.

Mizzou was one of four Big 12 Conference schools to post a perfect GSR, joining Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas Tech. Other public BCS programs to earn the honor were Clemson, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, The Ohio State, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students. Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are essentially passed to the receiving institution's Graduation Success Rate cohort. The Graduation Success Rate also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.