Hokie ClubVirginia Tech Athletics found itself at the forefront of academic successes once again, as the department recorded an overall Graduation Success Rate of 92 percent in a report released by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon.
The NCAA developed the formula for its Graduation Success Rate, or GSR, metric as part of its 2003 academic reform initiatives to better measure student-athlete academic success. It differs from the federal graduation rate in several ways, most notably by not penalizing schools that have transfers who depart in good academic standing and by counting transfers who enroll into a school in good academic standing. The GSR also takes into account the academic standing of mid-year enrollees, whereas the federal formula does not.
The NCAA's GSR metric allows student-athletes six years to earn their degrees. This year's rate is based on the average of student-athletes who enrolled in 2008, 2009, 2010 and the most recent data of 2011 and also graduated within six years following their enrollment. Thus, those in the 2008 freshman class would have graduated by 2014, those in the 2009 class by 2015, those in the 2010 class by 2016, and those in the 2011 class by 2017.
The Hokies' overall GSR of 92 percent ranked tied for first among all public universities in the Atlantic Coast Conference and fifth among all schools in the league. The 92 percent also was four percent higher than the national average and represented a two percent increase from Tech Athletics' four-average of the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 classes released in last year's NCAA report.
Six Virginia Tech sports programs had a perfect GSR of 100 percent – men's golf, men's tennis, women's basketball, women's soccer, women's tennis and volleyball. In all, 15 sport programs finished at 85 percent or higher, and 11 of 17 sport programs came in above the national average of 88 percent.
"The recent NCAA report is a reflection of our student-athletes' hard work and commitment to being their best in the classroom," said Dr. Rachel Holloway, vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs at Virginia Tech. "It's also a reflection of the dedication of our Student-Athlete Academic Support Services staff, their tutors and mentors, and the professors on our campus, all of whom are committed to providing the resources needed to allow our student-athletes to succeed academically. We're proud to see this high level of academic achievement and will remain diligent in our pursuit of continued success."
Virginia Tech's football program achieved a GSR of 90 percent – the top mark among public schools in the ACC. That number also was third among all ACC schools, trailing only Duke (96) and Notre Dame (95).
The football program increase its GSR by 10 percent from a year ago. Also of note, the Tech women's basketball program saw a 10 percent increase in its GSR from a year ago as well.
Other notable scores came from the men's swimming and diving program (97), baseball (94), lacrosse (96), women's swimming and diving (93), softball (91) and women's track/cross country (90).
For those interested in reading more about the NCAA and the latest GSR report, please click here.