Nebraska Athletics Excels in Graduation Success Rate

Nebraska student-athletes continue to perform at a high level in the classroom, ranking highly at the Big Ten Conference and national levels. The NCAA released its Graduation Success Rate (GSR) information on Wednesday, with Nebraska posting a 93 percent rate among all student-athletes.

This marks the sixth consecutive year Nebraska’s GSR rate has been at 93 percent or higher. Once again, Nebraska’s all student-athlete GSR is above the national average of 90 percent among all Division I schools. Additionally, Nebraska’s overall GSR ranks 21st among 112 public FBS institutions, marking the seventh consecutive year Nebraska has ranked in the top 25 among that peer group.

“We continue to be a national leader in student-athlete graduation rates because of the amazing student-athletes that our coaches recruit to Nebraska and the outstanding work of our academic staff,” Nebraska Deputy AD for Student Services Dennis Leblanc said. “Many of our student-athletes are the first in their family to go to college and receive a degree, which will not only have an impact on their lives, but on future generations. The Nebraska student-athlete experience is like no other, and we will continue to work tirelessly to be the very best!”

The Huskers’ impressive GSR score includes 10 programs that achieved a perfect 100 percent GSR. Those teams include bowling, women’s basketball, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s tennis, rifle, soccer, softball, volleyball and men’s tennis. The women’s basketball, women’s tennis and volleyball programs have achieved a perfect GSR each of the 20 years the rate has been computed by the NCAA.

In addition, the Husker men’s basketball and football programs each ranked in the top third among the Big Ten in their respective sports. Men’s basketball achieved a 92 percent GSR to rank fourth in the 18-team conference, with football ranking fifth in the Big Ten.

The impressive GSR rate continues Nebraska Athletics’ long history of academic achievement. Nebraska leads the Big Ten with 362 Academic All-Americans in school history across all sports, a mark that is second nationally trailing only Stanford. Nebraska is tied with Stanford for the national lead with 18 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award winners.

The GSR is a measurement that, unlike the federally mandated graduation rates, includes transfer data in the calculation. The GSR data released Wednesday is based on four classes of scholarship student-athletes who entered college from the fall of 2014 to the fall of 2017.

The GSR allows for a six-year window in which the student-athlete can earn his or her degree. Although the GSR includes student-athletes who transferred to Nebraska, it does not count student-athletes who transferred to another school and were academically eligible at the time of their transfer.