October 24, 2013

Athletic teams excel in Graduation Success Rate


Former UNL basketball player Lindsey Moore.

Six UNL athletic teams achieved perfect scores in the Graduation Success Rate report released on Oct. 24 by the NCAA.

The six Husker teams to earn a perfect 100 percent GSR score included women’s golf, women’s basketball, rifle, volleyball, softball and women’s tennis. Those teams all led or tied for the lead in the Big Ten Conference in GSR scores among their respective sports. In fact, the women’s golf, women’s basketball, volleyball and women’s tennis programs have achieved a perfect GSR score each of the nine years the rate has been computed by the NCAA.

In addition to the six teams achieving a perfect score, the soccer and swimming programs each topped the 90 percent score, and 12 of Nebraska’s programs achieved scores of 80 percent or better. Overall, UNL had an all student-athlete GSR score of 80 percent.

The Husker football team had a GSR rate of 76 percent, which ranked fourth among the 12 Big Ten Conference schools, trailing only Northwestern University, Penn State University and the University of Iowa. The 2013 Husker football team has 10 seniors playing this fall as graduate students. That ranks third among all Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

The Graduation Success Rate is an NCAA measurement that, unlike the federally mandated graduation rates, includes transfer data in the calculation. The GSR scores released on Oct. 24 are based on four classes of scholarship student-athletes who entered college in fall 2003 to fall 2006. They allow a six-year window in which the student-athletes can earn their degree.

Although GSR scores include student-athletes who transferred to UNL, they do not count student-athletes who transferred to another school and were academically eligible at the time of their transfer.