University of Michigan sets record for graduation rate among student-athletes
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The University of Michigan's graduation rate among student-athletes has set a school record this year.
According to a report released Tuesday by the NCAA, the four-year average Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for Michigan student-athletes was 96%. That all-time record is 1% higher than last year and 15 points higher than it was in 2010.
The university also set a record with a Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) of 83%, beating the previous record high of 81%, which was set in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.
The difference between the GSR and FGR has to do with transfer student-athletes.
With the GSR, universities get credit for transfer student-athletes who graduate. It also does not penalize universities with student-athletes who transfer out while in good academic standing. However, the university is also held accountable for the transfer of student-athletes who do not graduate.
The FGR is federally mandated. It only tracks the number of student-athletes who graduate within six years from the same school they entered as a freshman. It does not factor in student-athletes who transfer into the university. They are considered non-graduates for both universities involved in the transfer, which makes the FGR typically lower than the GSR.
Michigan has the second-highest GSR and FGR scores among Big Ten Conference schools this year. Northwestern holds the top spot with a GSR of 98 percent and FGR of 95 percent.
Michigan football's GSR of 94 percent also ranks second behind Northwestern football, which has a GSR of 97%.
Among Michigan's 28 varsity programs, 14 have a perfect GSR. They include:
- Baseball
- Men's basketball
- Women's basketball
- Men's golf
- Women's golf
- Men's gymnastics
- Women's gymnastics
- Rowing
- Softball
- Men's swimming
- Men's tennis
- Women's tennis
- Volleyball
- Wrestling
Men's golf, men's gymnastics, softball and women's tennis also have a perfect FGR rate, all for the third year in a row.
Michigan's softball team has recorded 18 perfect GSR scores since that data was first tracked by the NCAA. Women's golf has had perfect GSR scores for 15 years in a row. Women's tennis has been perfect for 13 straight years. Men's golf has been perfect for the last 12 years.
Michigan is only one of three Big Ten schools with a perfect GSR for both men's and women's basketball. The other two schools are Northwestern and Rutgers.
