Mean Green athletes post impressive graduation rates

From a UNT News Service Press Release

Several Mean Green athletic teams earned impressive scores in the Graduation Success Rate, or GSR, report released Oct. 15 by the NCAA. Seven women's teams achieved GSR scores of 75 percent or better.

"Overall we are pleased with our data and feel that we compare very favorably with our counterparts at similar schools," says Director of Athletics Rick Villarreal. "In evaluating our academic development, we balance this information with other integral factors and we are confident that we are on the right track. We fully understand that there is room for improvement and we continue to emphasize the importance of academic success."

For complete data regarding the GSR, visit the official NCAA web site. The most recent Graduation Success Rates are based on the four freshmen classes in Division I that entered school from 1998-99 through 2001-02. They allow a six-year window in which student-athletes can earn their degree.

The Mean Green women's tennis team led the way with a 100 percent GSR score. Also achieving high GSR scores were:

• women's basketball - 89 percent
• women's swimming and diving - 86 percent
• women's volleyball - 80 percent
• women's soccer - 78 percent
• women's golf and softball - 75 percent

The softball GSR reflects just the student-athletes who started at another school during the 1998-2001 cohort and finished with the Mean Green. (The new Mean Green softball team played its first game in 2004.)

The women's teams also compared favorably with their counterparts in the Sun Belt Conference. With its perfect score, the tennis team tied for the top score in the conference. Women's basketball and swimming and diving also graded very high among Sun Belt teams, ranking third. Golf was the top scoring UNT men's team, achieving a score of 78 percent, which tied it for third in the Sun Belt. Football and men's basketball scored a 58 and 65 percent respectively in the GSR, above the national rate of 56 and 54 in those sports.

The NCAA also released the most recent national graduation rate data in conjunction with the GSR information. The GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students, whereas the national graduation rate does not. The GSR also accounts for mid-year enrollees. The NCAA calculates the national graduation rate for student-athletes because it is the only rate by which to compare student-athletes to the general student body.

Seven of the women's sports teams achieved a GSR score higher than the comparable national graduation rate. On the men's side, only golf and track and field had a GSR score below their comparable national graduation rate.

The Graduation Success Rate was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. This year marks the sixth year that GSR data have been collected. The NCAA began collecting GSR data with the entering freshman class of 1995. The latest entering class for which data are available is 2001.

Read other stories in this issue:

• President's Note
• Moving Forward: UNT forms new college
• Jazz alumni to reunite, pay tribute to retired directors
• Women's athletic teams fare well in NCAA's graduation tracking data
• UNT reaching out to alumni and friends
• Faculty Focus: Professors to study whether storing greenhouse gases is safe
• UNT Traditions: Homecoming
• Featured Link: UNT's updated web site
• Alumni association returns to previous name, University of North Texas Alumni Association