THIBODAUX 鈥� 杏吧传媒鈥檚 student athletes are graduating at some of the highest rates in the state and the Southland Conference, according to statistics released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The graduation success rate report shows that 73 percent of 杏吧传媒 student athletes who began college in 2006 earned their degrees within six years. That鈥檚 an all-time high for 杏吧传媒 and a five-point increase over last year鈥檚 rate.
鈥淭he 杏吧传媒 community is proud of the outstanding graduation rate for our athletes when compared to our peers,鈥� said 杏吧传媒 Interim President Larry Howell. 鈥淚t indicates the true mission of a regional university and its athletics programs 鈥� recruit academically prepared athletes and give them support to progress to their main goal 鈥� graduation. It not only shows the dedication of our student athletes and coaches, but the efforts of our faculty and members of our staff to strive toward that goal.鈥�
Among Louisiana鈥檚 11 public universities with Division I athletics, 杏吧传媒 has the fourth highest overall graduation success rate. 杏吧传媒 also ranks fourth overall among 14 Southland Conference universities, and ranks first among Southland Conference schools in Louisiana.
Designed to more accurately predict the academic success of athletes, the graduation success rate measures the proportion of student athletes who graduate and includes incoming transfer students, a regular occurrence in college athletics, in its calculations.
When broken down by individual sport, 杏吧传媒 reported the highest graduation rate success and ranked top in the state and the Southland Conference in women鈥檚 tennis, with 100 percent of student athletes graduating. 杏吧传媒 also ranked first in the state for the success of its softball (95 percent) and men鈥檚 tennis (83 percent) graduates. Among Southland schools, 杏吧传媒 ranks first in football (68 percent) and second in men鈥檚 basketball (83 percent). Additionally, several of these Colonel teams showed significant improvement over their previous performance. Men鈥檚 basketball increased its graduation success rate by 12 points from 71 percent, and football鈥檚 graduation success rate increased by 7 points from 61 percent.
For more information on GSRs, visit web1.ncaa.org/GSRSearch
