Mizzou Athletics Has Four Programs Post SEC-Leading Graduate Success Rates
11/17/2020 10:08:00 AM | General, Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Women's Swimming and Diving, Tennis
Tigers’ GSR of 89 matches their second-best mark in school history
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou student-athletes continued to shine in the classroom, evidenced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Graduation Success Rate (GSR) metrics released Tuesday. For the second-straight year, Mizzou registered an overall GSR of 89, which matched the second-best mark in school history, and had four programs tie for the SEC lead with perfect scores of 100—Mizzou Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Women's Swimming & Diving and Women's Tennis.
"Mizzou's student-athletes continue to excel in their academic pursuits while receiving a first-class education from our renowned faculty," said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. "I applaud our student-athletes, coaches, academic staff and the Mizzou faculty for their on-going commitment to classroom success."
It marked the 11th-straight year Mizzou posted an institutional GSR score of 80 or higher, and the sixth-straight year the mark sat at 88 percent or better. Nine Tiger programs either improved or matched their year-over-year GSR, led by a 14-point improvement from the Tigers' Men's Basketball program and a seven-point increase in wrestling. MU's institutional GSR of 89 ranked only behind Vanderbilt (97), South Carolina (95), Alabama (93), Kentucky (92), Auburn (91) and Tennessee (90); tied with Florida (89) and LSU (89), and ahead of Mississippi State (88), Georgia (87), Arkansas (85), Ole Miss (85) and Texas A&M (82).
Below is a look at each of Mizzou's programs and their respective GSRs:
- Baseball – 89
- Football – 84 – Fourth in SEC
- Men's Basketball – 71
- Men's Cross Country/Track & Field – 79
- Men's Golf – 100 – First in SEC
- Men's Swimming & Diving – 80
- Wrestling – 87
- Softball – 88
- Women's Basketball – 92 – Tied Fourth in SEC
- Women's Cross Country/Track & Field – 95
- Women's Golf – 100 – First in SEC
- Women's Gymnastics – 92
- Women's Soccer – 95
- Women's Swimming & Diving – 100 – First in SEC
- Women's Tennis – 100 – First in SEC
- Volleyball – 86
Mizzou's institutional federal graduation rate was 64 percent for all student-athletes, which ranked eighth in the league behind Vanderbilt (82 percent), Alabama (71), South Carolina (70), Georgia (68), Texas A&M (67), Auburn (66) and Kentucky (65). Ranking behind Mizzou was Tennessee (62 percent), Florida (61), (Ole Miss (60), Mississippi State (60), Arkansas (57) and LSU (54).
The GSR was developed by the NCAA with the entering freshmen class of 1995 to more accurately assess student-athlete's academic performance. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for mid-year enrollees and is calculated for every sport.
Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution's GSR cohort. The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2010-11 through 2013-14.
