INDIANAPOLIS---Student-athletes in college sports continue to graduate at a higher percentage than the general student body, according to the latest release of the NCAA annual graduation rate report.

According to the NCAA report of the federally mandated Graduation Rates, 62 percent of all NCAA student-athletes who entered Division I colleges and universities in 1997 graduated in the six-year window established by the U.S. Department of Education as the standard.  This year’s rate remains unchanged for student-athletes when compared to 2003 figures.  The six-year graduation rate for the overall student body grew one percentage point, to 60 percent, over the past year.

Student-athletes participating in Division I-A football continue to improve their overall graduation rate.  For the fourth consecutive year, football players at Division I-A institutions graduated at a higher rate than the previous year. Division I-A football student-athletes entering institutions in 1997 completed the six-year cycle with a 57 percent graduation rate, compared to 54 percent for the 1996 class.

The graduation rate for all Division I football student-athletes, which includes Divisions I-A, AA and AAA, was 55 percent, a one-percentage point increase over the previous year.  Both black and white football players graduated at a higher percentage rate than their male counterparts within the student-body.  Black football players graduated at 48 percent, compared to 36 percent of all black male students. White football players graduated at 65 percent, versus 60 percent for all white male students.

The Division I men’s and women’s basketball rates saw mixed reviews among ethnic groups.  Both black male and female student-athletes increased their overall rate by one percentage point, moving from 41 to 42 percent and 58 to 59 percent, respectively.  White males fell four percentage points, from 52 to 48 percent, and white females fell from 70 to 67 percent.  The overall rate for men’s Division I basketball did not change, remaining at 44 percent, while the women’s overall rate dipped two percentage points, for a 64 percent graduation rate, the first slip in this category since the 1992 cohort.

The sport of baseball also suffered a decline in the overall graduation rate for student-athletes entering NCAA member institutions in 1997.  The overall rate dipped two percentage points from 48 percent the previous year.  In addition, every ethnic group classified received a lower graduation rate this year versus 2003 with the exception of Hispanics, which jumped from 29 to 55 percent this year.

Still encouraging is how well student-athletes in other sports are graduating in comparison to their like gender within the overall student body.  Male student-athletes competing in sports other than baseball, basketball, football and track/cross country are graduating four percentage points higher than their male student body counterparts, finishing at 61 percent this year.  On the women’s side, when basketball and track/cross country are eliminated, student-athletes are graduating nine percentage points higher with a 72 percent overall rate.

The NCAA announced last year a plan to collect the graduation rate data from member colleges and universities.  This data collection allows the NCAA to release graduation rate information for specific sports, information that was previously suppressed by the federal government.  Next year, the NCAA will provide an alternative graduation-rate measure in addition to the report compiled using the federally mandated methodology.  The new rate, called the Graduation Success Rate, will take transfers into account and is designed to provide a more accurate and real-time assessment of graduation success for all athletics programs.