INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference ranks among one of the nation’s top NCAA Division II conferences for academic success, it was announced this past week by the NCAA. Among the 23 NCAA Division II conferences analyzed in the report, the GLVC ranked third in Academic Success Rate (ASR) at 80 percent and third in the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) at 62 percent for all student-athletes.
Those numbers represent an increase from last year’s averages, when the GLVC tied for fourth with an ASR at 79 percent and tied for fifth with an FGR at 61 percent.
The report, which focuses on the academic success of freshman cohorts who enrolled in school between 2002-05, and were then given a six-year window to graduate, indicates that 3,404 of the GLVC’s 4,263 student-athletes earned their degrees, which established the conference’s ASR. The FGR was calculated by 1,889 graduates among 3,059 selected student-athletes.
The Sunshine State Conference paced all Division II leagues with an ASR of 86 percent, followed by the Northeast-10 Conference (85%) and the GLVC, although the GLVC boasted the largest student-athlete total of the three. The survey indicated the GLVC had 3,059 student-athletes enrolled, well ahead of the Northeast-10 (2,101) and Sunshine State (1,112).
As for the FGR, the Northeast-10 led all conferences at 69 percent, while the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (64%) followed just ahead of the GLVC.
The GLVC also ranked among the nation’s finest in individual sports. In baseball, the GLVC leads the nation with an ASR of 81 percent, graduating 456 of the 566 enrollees. The GLVC rated second in men’s football (65%), third in men’s basketball (71%) and women’s basketball (88%), and fourth in both “men’s other sports” (76%) and “women’s other sports” (90%), which include every sport with the exception of baseball, basketball, football, track and field, and cross country.
Also of note, the GLVC’s FGR and ASR rates were higher than the national Division II averages for each sport as well as the category representing all student-athletes. In fact, the GLVC tied or increased its ASR rate from a year ago in eight of the nine sport categories. Men’s basketball dipped from 74 percent last year to 71 percent in this year’s report, but ranked tied for the third-highest average among the 23 conferences, behind the Sunshine State (80%), Northeast-10 (74%) and South Atlantic Conference (71%). The GLVC’s average is also 11 percent higher than the national mark for all Division II men’s basketball programs.
The ASR and FGR improvements across the board are also notable given that the GLVC’s total enrollment increased by nearly 3,200 overall students and more than 300 student-athletes from last year’s study.
According to NCAA.org, the Division II ASR, which was first introduced in 2005, is a rolling average of the graduation outcomes for Division II student-athletes. Even when using the less-inclusive federal rate (which does not include transfer student-athletes and mid-year enrollees), Division II student-athletes perform significantly better than the general student body. In addition to the 72 percent ASR figure, the FGR for Division II student-athletes is 55 percent, seven percentage points higher than the overall student body at Division II colleges and universities.
|
|
GLVC Federal Graduation Rate |
National |
GLVC Academic Success Rate |
National |
|
GLVC Sports |
Enrolled |
Graduated |
Rate |
D-II Rate |
Enrolled |
Graduated |
Rate |
D-II Rate |
|
None (STUDENT BODY) |
37617 |
17162 |
46% |
48% |
|
|
|
|
|
All S-As |
3059 |
1889 |
62% |
55% |
4263 |
3404 |
80% |
72% |
|
FB |
537 |
242 |
45% |
43% |
630 |
411 |
65% |
54% |
|
MBB |
147 |
78 |
53% |
46% |
247 |
175 |
71% |
60% |
|
BASE |
257 |
156 |
61% |
52% |
566 |
456 |
81% |
70% |
|
MTF/CC |
187 |
118 |
63% |
53% |
298 |
227 |
76% |
72% |
|
M. Other |
640 |
378 |
59% |
53% |
954 |
729 |
76% |
73% |
|
WBB |
180 |
122 |
68% |
61% |
230 |
203 |
88% |
79% |
|
WTF/CC |
166 |
114 |
69% |
66% |
227 |
198 |
87% |
84% |
|
W. Other |
945 |
681 |
72% |
64% |
1111 |
1005 |
90% |
84% |