OHIO Athletics achieves record-setting Graduation Success Rate, Federal Graduation Rate again

In graduation data released by the NCAA today, Ohio University student-athletes have a four-class average (2011-15) of 92 percent in the Graduation Success Rate (GSR), surpassing the four-class average of 90 percent set between 2010-14.

“Our University places priority on graduating our student-athletes and helping them become leaders after college athletics,” said Ohio University Director of Athletics Julie Cromer. “Achieving our highest Graduation Success Rate in program history is the result of the hard work our student-athletes, academic staff, coaches and faculty put toward achieving academic excellence."

The 2014-15 cohort also has a Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) of 78 percent. The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere. OHIO student-athletes continue to outperform the general student population at OHIO when comparing term and yearly FGR.

Ohio University ranked second both in GSR and FGR among Mid-American Conference schools.  

NCAA members, particularly presidents and chancellors, asked the NCAA in the early 2000s to develop a measure of student-athlete graduation success that more accurately reflects modern-day patterns of student enrollment and transfer. As a result, the NCAA created the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for Division I. 

The NCAA GSR differs from the federal calculation in two important ways. First, the GSR holds colleges accountable for those student-athletes who transfer into their school. Second, the GSR does not penalize colleges whose student-athletes transfer in good academic standing. Essentially, those student-athletes are moved into another college's cohort.