Elon athletics leads CAA with 94 percent graduation success rate

The NCAA recently announced the 2016-17 Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and Federal Graduation Rate data for all Division I institutions as part of the annual NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program.

This year’s Elon-specific data revealed an overall single-year GSR of 94 percent – the highest in the Colonial Athletic Association – with six Phoenix programs earning a perfect 100 percent GSR score. Those programs include:

• Men’s Basketball
• Men’s Tennis
• Men’s Cross Country
• Women’s Basketball
• Women’s Golf
• Women’s Tennis

Elon is the only school in the CAA that had every athletic program achieve a GSR of 90 percent or higher.

“I am thrilled to see the continued commitment our student-athletes have to achieving both academic and athletic success, and the latest graduation success rate data shows just that,” said Director of Athletics Dave Blank. “Graduating student-athletes is the foundation of our mission at Elon. This latest report is not only a credit to our student-athletes, but also to the tremendous mentorship and support from our coaches and other Elon faculty and staff.”

Other highlights include:

• The Elon football team’s 92-percent GSR was the highest in the Colonial Athletic Association and 17th nationally among schools that compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Elon was the only CAA Football institution with a GSR of 90 percent or higher.
• The Elon men’s basketball program earned a perfect GSR of 100 percent for the fourth consecutive year. Since joining the CAA in 2014-15, only Elon and Drexel have had a 100 percent GSR every year.
• The Elon women’s basketball program was the only CAA school with a 100 percent GSR. Overall, this year marks the third straight year Elon women’s basketball has a GSR percentage of 90 or above. This year marks the third time since 2007-08 that Elon had a 100 percent GSR.
• Elon baseball’s 91 percent GSR was the highest since 2010. Elon was one of only four CAA schools with a GSR percentage of 91 or above.
• This marks the eighth consecutive year Elon women’s golf recorded a 100 percent GSR. Phoenix women’s golf has had a 90 or above GSR percentage for 11 consecutive years.
• Women’s soccer recorded a 94 percent GSR this year. Since 2005, the Elon women’s soccer program has recorded a GSR of 94 or higher every year, including a perfect 100 percent on six occasions.
• The Elon men’s soccer program had a GSR of 95 percent, making the Phoenix one of only three schools in the CAA to achieve a 95 or higher. Additionally, the program has had a GSR of 91 or above in back-to-back years.

The GSR measures graduation rates of scholarship student-athletes at Division I institutions. It includes those transferring into the institutions. The GSR also allows institutions to subtract student-athletes who leave their institutions prior to graduation, as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained. The 2016-17 rates are based on the entering classes from 2007-10.

Colonial Athletic Association Overall Graduation Success Rate for 2017

Elon University – 94%
Hofstra University – 93%
College of William and Mary – 93%
Northeastern University – 91%
Drexel University – 89%
James Madison University – 88%
University of Delaware – 85%
University of North Carolina Wilmington – 85%
Towson University – 84%
College of Charleston – 81%

Among 351 NCAA Division I teams nationwide in the overall Graduation Success Rate, Elon’s 94% ties for 36 place with Wake Forest University, George Washington University, Boston University, University of Central Florida, Mount St. Mary’s University, Manhattan College, the University of Dayton and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Among North Carolina Division I schools, Elon is tied with Wake Forest for third in the overall graduation success rate behind Davidson College and Duke University:

North Carolina Division I Graduation Success Rate for 2017

Davidson College – 98%
Duke University – 97%
Elon University – 94%
Wake Forest University – 94%
University of North Carolina Asheville – 92%
University of North Carolina Charlotte – 91%
High Point University – 88%
Campbell University – 85%
University of North Carolina Wilmington – 85%
North Carolina State University – 85%
Gardner-Webb University – 85%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – 84%
Appalachian State University – 83%
University of North Carolina Greensboro – 83%
Western Carolina University – 83%
East Carolina University – 82%
North Carolina Central University – 77%
North Carolina A&T State University – 68%

The NCAA's GSR was developed in response to a mandate by college and university presidents for graduation data that more accurately reflects the mobility among today's college students. Both rates improve on the federally mandated graduation rate by including students who were omitted from the federal calculation.