Miller: SDSU Rate Improves

San Diego State Athletic Director Fred Miller acknowledged the numbers from The Chronicle of Higher Education’s study don’t look good.

They showed that SDSU’s graduation rate for athletes was 254th out of the 262 Division I schools that participated in the survey.

SDSU graduated nine of 57 freshman athletes recruited in 1984 within five years for an average of 15.8%. Nationally, the average graduation rate for athletes was 56%.

“I’m not flip about (the numbers),” Miller said Wednesday. “But you have a whole new cast of players now.”

Miller also contended that there were other variables the survey did not take into account.

“You had some players transfer, and you also had some baseball players who turned pro after their junior year and came back to finish their education later,” Miller said. “Those things make the numbers look a lot worse.”

But the numbers appear to getting better. Miller said a study compiled by SDSU showed that 30% of the 1985 freshman class of football recruits had graduated by 1990.

“All football recruits we have now are on graduation track,” Miller said. “I’m confident this university is moving in the right direction.”

Miller said the implementation of Proposition 48 in 1987 has helped move the school in that direction. Proposition 48 is a measure that established tougher entrance requirements for incoming freshmen.

“In the pre-Prop. 48 era, I think there were a lot of problems,” Miller said. “But that’s why Prop. 48 has been such a good thing. It gives kids a chance. I think you can see by the figures that we were just begging for something like Proposition 48.”

The survey, which appeared in Thursday’s edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, showed that 56% of athletes received degrees within five years, compared to 48% for all students. Miller said he guarantees that SDSU will have a similar ratio.

“We will graduate our athletes at a higher rate than the normal student body,” Miller said. “We’re under a microscope. We know that people are watching us.”