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ACC teams continue to set high graduation success rate standard

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accThe Atlantic Coast Conference’s presence in the forefront of academic success was demonstrated once again in the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rates (GSR) released today.

Teams from ACC institutions rank among the top Division I institutions with an average graduation rate of 88.1 percent, while the NCAA graduation rate is 82 percent nationally.

ACC notes include:

  • 8 of 14 ACC football teams earned a GSR above the FBS average of 71
  • 11 of 15 ACC Men’s basketball teams earned a GSR at or above the Div. I average of 70, leading all Power 5 Conferences.
  • 11 of 14 ACC Baseball teams earned a GSR above the Div. I average of 77, the highest of anyPower 5 conference.
  • 9 of 15 ACC Women’s Basketball teams earned a GSR above the Div. I average of 86.
  • In the sport of football, the ACC is the only Power 5 conference to have multiple teams score 90 or higher every year since 2005.
  • In the sport of men’s basketball, Duke and Notre Dame each achieved scores of 100.
  • The ACC leads all Power 5 conferences with three baseball teams (Duke, Miami and Notre Dame) scoring 100.
  • 2014 marks the seventh-straight year that the ACC has had at least four women’s basketball programs score 100, making it the only Power 5 conference to do so. The ACC tied for the national lead with six teams – Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Notre Dame, Pitt and Wake Forest – hitting the century mark in the latest report.
  • A total of 11 ACC teams achieved GSR scores of 100 in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball. The next highest number among Power 5 conferences was nine.

The Graduation Success Rate was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative as a better measure of student-athlete academic success.  The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.

Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing.  The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution’s GSR cohort.

The GSR allows student-athletes six years to earn their degree. This year’s rate is based on student-athletes who entered college in the fall of 2007, the most recent data available. The rate shows the percentage of those student-athletes who earned a degree by the spring of 2013 The four-year cohort of student-athletes who began college in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 is also included.

The federal graduation rate, which is less accurate than GSR because it counts transfer students as academic failures, is the only rate that allows comparison between the general student body at a school and its student-athletes.

This year marks the 14th year that GSR data has been collected. The NCAA began collecting this data with the entering freshman class of 1995.

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