13 schools below NCAA national average in latest GSR report

More than half of Division I men’s volleyball teams are below the national average for student-athletes who entered college in 2004 and earned their degrees within six years.

Nine of the 22 men’s volleyball teams scored higher than the national average of 82 percent in the latest single-year Graduation Success Rates that the NCAA released Tuesday.

The Graduation Success Rates measures the percentage of student-athletes in each class who graduate from college within six years. It also includes several factors not featured in the federal graduation rate, such as transfers and students who enroll during the middle of the school year, to give a more accurate assessment of academic success.

IPFW, Pepperdine, Pacific, Sacred Heart and Stanford each scored a perfect 100 percent for its 2004 freshman class. This was the fifth consecutive year that each of these schools, except for Pepperdine, had a perfect GSR score.

In addition, Ohio State, Quincy, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State were above the national average for their 2004 class.

Six MPSF schools, five EIVA schools and two MIVA schools were among the 13 teams to finish below the national average.

Unlike the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate, which measures the retention and eligibility of scholarship athletes during a four-year period, the GSR does not penalize teams for failing to reach a certain benchmark.

Seven teams — Pepperdine, Long Beach State, Loyola, UCLA, Ball State, NJIT and UC Irvine — improved their GSR score from their 2003 class. NJIT had the largest jump improving 39 percentage points to 50 percent with its 2004 class, while Pepperdine improved 12 percentage points.

In contrast, the GSR scores for seven teams — Quincy, UC Santa Barbara, USC, Penn State, George Mason, Hawai’i and BYU — declined from the 2003 class to 2004 class. However, none of these schools had more than 12 percentage point decrease.

The NCAA’s overall GSR of 82 percent was a 3 percentage point increase from last year and the highest score since it began the GSR 10 years ago.

“Academic reform is working. Students are better prepared when they enter college, and they are staying on track to earn their degrees,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in statement released Tuesday. “Some doubted our efforts, but the resolve of our presidents is strong, and we are reaping the fruit of several years of hard work.”

Graduation Success Rate for class of 2004
T-1. IPFW — 100 percent
T-1. Pacific — 100 percent
T-1. Pepperdine — 100 percent
T-1. Sacred Heart — 100 percent
T-1. Stanford — 100 percent
T-6. Ohio State — 93 percent
T-6. Quincy — 93 percent
8. UC Santa Barbara — 85 percent
9. Long Beach State — 83 percent
T-10. Cal State Northridge — 78 percent
T-10. Loyola — 78 percent
12. USC — 77 percent
T-13. UCLA — 75 percent
T-14. George Mason — 75 percent
15. Penn State — 71 percent
16. Hawai’i — 67 percent
T-17. Ball State — 63 percent
T-17. BYU — 63 percent
19. Rutgers-Newark — 60 percent
T-20. NJIT — 50 percent
T-20. UC Irvine — 50 percent
22. St. Francis — 36 percent

Graduation Success Rate for class of 2003
T-1. IPFW — 100 percent
T-1. Pacific — 100 percent
T-1. Quincy — 100 percent
T-1. Sacred Heart — 100 percent
T-1. Stanford — 100 percent
6. Ohio State — 93 percent
T-7. UC Santa Barbara — 88 percent
T-7. Pepperdine — 88 percent
T-9. George Mason — 83 percent
T-9. Penn State — 83 percent
11. USC — 82 percent
12. Long Beach State — 79 percent
13. Cal State Northridge — 78 percent
14. Loyola — 75 percent
15. UCLA — 72 percent
16. Hawai’i — 70 percent
17. BYU — 64 percent
18. Ball State — 62 percent
19. Rutgers-Newark — 60 percent
20. UC Irvine — 47 percent
21. St. Francis — 36 percent
22. NJIT — 11 percent