By Nate West
News Assignment Editor
Student-athletes at St. Bonaventure are graduating at a rate above their peers, according to an annual poll released Thursday, Oct. 25, by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) is released annually by the NCAA to show the percentage of student-athletes who graduate with a degree. This year’s GSR said that student-athletes who entered St. Bonaventure in the 2005-06 school year had a GSR of 88 percent.
The NCAA also released the Federal Graduation Rates (FGR). The FGR, taken by the U.S. Department of Education, also shows the percentage of student-athletes who graduate. The FGR found that student-athletes who entered St. Bonaventure in the 2005-06 school year had a 74 percent graduation rate.
The GSR was developed after complaints that the FGR understates the success of student-athletes, according to NCAA.com
The reason the FGR is lower is because it penalizes out-bound transfers, students who transfer from Bona’s to another school. If an academically eligible student-athlete transfers to another school for whatever reason, the FGR counts it against the institution as that student not graduating, according to Barbara Questa, senior associate director of athletics. The FGR doesn’t give credit to an institution for an in-bound transfer, a student who transfers from another school to Bona’s, who graduates.
“If you leave, as long as you’re academically eligible at the point at which you leave St. Bonaventure, we are not penalized by your departure,” Questa said. “If somebody comes into St. Bonaventure as a sophomore or a junior, we get credit for them graduating.”
Both studies only poll student-athletes on scholarships. They allow student-athletes six years to graduate. Freshmen student-athletes who entered in the 2005-06 school year and took six years would have graduated in August of 2011. Then colleges have until June to submit their information.
“Historically, your federal graduation rates will always be lower than your NCAA rates,” Questa said. “They’re a little more understanding. Students leave college for various different reasons and so the way we look at it, we look at the NCAA rates because that’s who were accountable with.”
When colleges compare their student-athlete graduation rates to those of other colleges, they will typically use the GSR, Questa said.
Twelve of the fourteen Division I teams earned a GSR of over 88 percent for freshmen entering college in the 2005-06 school year. Men’s golf, men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s tennis all had a 100 percent GSR. Women’s swimming was at 96 percent, women’s soccer at 94 percent, baseball at 92 percent, softball and lacrosse at 91 percent, women’s basketball at 90 percent and men’s soccer was at 88 percent. Men’s swimming and men’s basketball had a 73 percent GSR and a 61 percent GSR, respectively, according to a university press release.
St. Bonaventure tries to recruit higher achieving students, Questa said.
“They are serious about their academics and we as administrators are serious about monitoring their academic progress,” Questa said. “Our student-athletes also tend to be some of SBU’s best and brightest students, as proven by the fact that over the past seven graduating classes, a student-athlete has been named Ideal Bonaventure Student or Honorable Mention every year.”
Student-athletes also tend to be better students, as their competitors both on in the arena, or in the classroom, Questa said. Graduating at a higher rate than the general student population highlights that competitive nature more.
Since the rates are six years old, it can be argued that the rating is not a true reflection of what a team or coach is currently doing. It’s important to note since 2005, men’s basketball, cross country, lacrosse, women’s soccer, women’s swimming and golf have all had changes in the coaching staff, Questa said.
The university says that they take the GSR very seriously, Questa said.
“The GSR’s are extremely important as they are part of the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program (APP), which, along with a team’s Academic Progress Rate (APR), measures the academic success of a team,” Questa said.
westnl11@bonaventure.edu
