Graduation rates for Division I athletes continue to rise

A decade ago, when NCAA officials began collecting data for the Graduation Success Rate, they hoped for a day when eight of every 10 Division I student-athletes earned their degrees within six years.

That number, they figured, would reflect real progress in the academic reform of big-time college sports.

The latest GSR report, released Tuesday, showed they have achieved this goal, but also that, as one official put it, “we still have our challenges.”

Eighty-two percent of student-athletes who entered college in 2004 have graduated on time, and the average for the last four graduating classes (2001-04) has reached an all-time high of 80%.

“We’re delighted that we’re here,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said. “Obviously, this type of progress doesn’t happen overnight.”

At the same time, football and men’s basketball continue a trend of lagging behind, both falling short of a graduation rate of 70%.

“Our work is far from done,” said Walter Harrison, chairman of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance and president of the University of Hartford. “We need to improve those two sports.”

For many years, the NCAA measured graduation using federal statistics. Those numbers — which currently show athletes outperforming the student body by 65% to 63% — count any athlete who transfers to another school as a failure, even if he or she leaves in good academic standing.

The GSR was developed to account for transfers and more accurately reflect academic performance.

Among local universities, UCLA had a GSR among all athletes of 83% — slightly above the national average — with football coming in at 59% and men’s basketball at 75%.

The athletes’ graduation rate at USC was 78% with football at 61% and men’s basketball at 38%.

Pepperdine had a graduation rate of 91%. The rates at Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton — 62% and 66%, respectively — were dragged down by specific teams. Northridge struggled in basketball with a 25% rate and Fullerton scored in the 40s in baseball, men’s soccer and men’s wrestling.

Baseball has been a particular focus for NCAA officials who said that, nationwide, the rate for the sport rose almost eight points to 77%.

The latest figures were released as the NCAA board of directors meets this week. There had been some concern about Emmert pushing for a more stringent — and immediate — standard for postseason participation.

News reports suggested that teams would have to reach 930 in a related measurement, the Academic Progress Rate, a change that might have blocked some prominent teams from the men’s NCAA basketball tournament this spring.

On Tuesday, officials said that although they will press for a higher minimum standard, they will suggest that it be phased in over four years.

“We’re trying to change behavior,” Harrison said. “Therefore, we have to give people a chance to adjust.”

david.wharton@latimes.com

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