Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Again in Top 10 Nationally in Student-Athlete Graduation Rates
10/27/2010 8:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 27, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Once again Bucknell Athletics ranks among the nation's elite when it comes to the graduation rate of its student-athletes, using both the Department of Education's and the NCAA's formulae. Furthering its long-standing tradition of success in the NCAA's annual graduation rates survey, released Wednesday afternoon, Bucknell's four-class average for student-athletes entering between 2000-01 and 2003-04 ranks seventh nationally.
With a four-class average of 87 percent, Bucknell trails only Stanford (91 percent), Davidson (91), Notre Dame (91), Holy Cross (90), Colgate (88) and Northwestern (88) among all Division I institutions reporting federal graduation rates (the Ivy League and military academies do not report federal graduation rates).
Also on Wednesday, the NCAA released its own Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data, which differs from the federal graduation-rate formula in that the GSR factors in transfer students who do graduate, and does not penalize schools for losing transfers who leave in good academic standing.
Those findings revealed that 17 Bucknell varsity programs boast perfect 100 percent GSRs, counting student-athletes who entered school between the 2000-01 and 2003-04 academic years. Of Bucknell's 22 varsity sports considered in the study (cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field are combined, for GSR purposes), all 22 have a GSR of 88 percent or better and 21 came in at 90 or better.
The programs with GSR ratings of 100 percent are baseball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's water polo, women's basketball, women's rowing, women's track and field and volleyball. Men's basketball (91) and football (90) both have GSRs that are among the highest in the nation.
Bucknell's overall GSR of 95 percent ranks 12th-best nationally. The national average is 79 percent.
Bucknell has topped the nation in graduation rates on numerous occasions, including in 2003, when it received a USA Today-NCAA Academic Achievement Award with a perfect 100 percent figure.
Each spring, the NCAA releases a separate set of data, called the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which measures both academic performance and retention. Each program receives an APR score, with teams falling under a certain threshold subject to penalties such as loss of scholarships. The top 10 percent in each sport receive APR Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA, and last May 18 of Bucknell's programs were so honored, the fifth-highest total in all of Division I. All of Bucknell's programs easily met the NCAA minimum standard, and 12 maintained perfect scores.
Bucknell sponsors 27 intercollegiate sports at the Division I level. It is a charter member of the Patriot League and has won the league's all-sports championship in 16 of the 20 years it has been contested, including 2009-10. Bucknell ranks fifth in Division I in producing Academic All-Americans.
