Tuesday, September 18, 2001

Student-athlete graduation rates remain static
Men’s basketball rates among lowest in over a decade
bBy Jill Sutton
Staff Reporter

NCAA figures released Sept. 10 showed the graduation rates among college student-athletes have changed little, and TCU ranked above the national average.

TCU’s male student-athlete graduation rate was 61 percent, and the female student-athlete graduation rate was 65 percent. The NCAA reports show that the national average for male athletes was 54 percent, and the national average for women athletes was 58 percent.

TCU administrators and academic advisors attribute the minimal success of TCU student -athletes to improved facilities and greater commitment to individual student-athletes.

“The scores by TCU student-athletes are higher than the national average because of the support and commitment of the university to assist each student,” Academic Advising Director Milton Overton said.

The data collected by the NCAA Division I colleges and universities on graduation rates only account for student-athletes who enroll as freshman, receive athletic-related financial aid and graduate from that institution within six years of initial enrollment.

The only significant drop among national rates, as well at TCU, was in men’s basketball. The national rate for men’s basketball dropped to it’s second-lowest level since 1984.

The TCU baseball team graduation rate was 56 percent, men’s basketball graduated zero percent, the football team graduated 47 percent and the men’s cross country and track graduated 100 percent of their student-athletes who entered in 1994-95.

All other men’s sports are listed as “others” and TCU graduated 86 percent from these other sports.

The women’s basketball team graduated 67 percent, the women’s cross country and track graduated 67 percent and the other women’s sports graduated 67 percent.

According to the NCAA, students who transfer in good academic standing to another institution count against their original institution as not graduating and are not counted in the freshman rate at their second university.

Overton said the numbers can be confusing, and they really depend on how many student-athletes entered in 1994-95 and finished their eligibility at TCU.

He said most of the construed numbers are affected by student-athletes who transfer or leave the school because of other reasons.

“Our graduation rates are hurt because of transfers who finished their degrees at other schools, athletes leaving early for the professional leagues, and those who leave for personal reasons,” Overton said. “A student-athlete can leave TCU with a 4.0, and in the NCAA reports this will count against us.”

Overton also said TCU was one of the top schools in the country for receiving the NCAA Degree Completion Award, and yet, the NCAA graduation rates fail to report these numbers. The NCAA Degree Completion Award is a scholarship student-athletes apply for when they seek to return to TCU and finish their degrees.

“These numbers will not show up in the NCAA rates we see,” Overton said. “The student-athletes who graduate from TCU with this scholarship will only be counted in studies done over a 10-year period.”

While TCU was still ranked above the national average, Overton said four policies are being implemented to improve the numbers: tutoring in the form of supplemental instruction, a new writing center, improved facilities in the John Justin Athletic Center and an increased academic staff.

Overton also said the web-based tutoring system used by TCU is being mirrored by other universities around the country.

“Other schools are now seeing our academic support software and wanting to use it to help teach and monitor their student-athletes as well,” Overton said.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said he was pleased by the scores of TCU student-athletes.

“Overall, we are doing fine,” Ferrari said. “This is an area that needs attention and support. With the facilities and support services we have, we should continue to be improving.”

Head football coach Gary Patterson said athletics takes graduation rates seriously, and this is an important issue that has been dealt with by TCU.

“There has been problems in the past with the graduation rates, but the important thing is that TCU has worked hard to improve these areas,” Patterson said.

Jill Sutton
j.m.sutton@student.tcu.edu