University of Nebraska–Lincoln student-athletes continued the Huskers’ tradition of being a national leader in the classroom, posting a 95 percent NCAA Graduation Success Rate for the second straight year.
The 95 percent rate ties for the highest in school history and marks the fifth consecutive year the rate has been at 90 percent or higher.
Nebraska remains a leader among its peers in the graduation success rates released by the NCAA on Nov. 15. Nebraska’s 95 percent all student-athlete rate ties for third in the Big Ten and ranks second among 110 public Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. Among all 131 FBS schools, Nebraska’s overall 95 percent rate ranks ninth.
“We are incredibly proud of the commitment by our student-athletes to achieve at a high level in the classroom,” said Trev Alberts, vice chancellor and director of athletics. “Our athletic department has always stressed academic success and well-rounded student-athletes, and our academic support staff is second to none. This type of achievement is only possible because our young men and women have made earning a degree from the University of Nebraska a priority.”
The Huskers’ record-high graduation success score includes 10 programs that achieved a perfect 100 percent. Those teams included women’s basketball, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s tennis, rifle, soccer, softball, volleyball, swimming and diving, and men’s tennis. The women’s basketball, women’s tennis and volleyball programs have achieved a perfect score each of the 18 years the rate has been computed by the NCAA.
All of Nebraska’s programs had at least an 88% graduation score, with football (92%), wrestling (95%) and bowling (90%) achieving the highest scores in program history. The Husker football program’s score was third in the Big Ten and ranked well above the national average of 82% among FBS schools.
The Nebraska Athletic Department has long been a national leader in academic and athletic achievement. Nebraska leads all Division I programs with 348 Academic All-Americans in school history across all sports. Nebraska also leads the nation with 18 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award winners.
Graduation success rate is an NCAA measurement that, unlike the federally mandated graduation rates, includes transfer data in the calculation. The data released Nov. 15 is based on four classes of scholarship student-athletes from fall 2012 to fall 2015.
The rate allows for a six-year window in which the student-athlete can earn a degree. The score includes student-athletes who transferred to Nebraska. It does not include student-athletes who transferred to another school and were academically eligible at the time of transfer.
