Razorbacks Match Program-Record Graduation Success Rate

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the second straight year, University of Arkansas student-athletes have combined to earn the top graduation success rate (GSR) in the history of the Razorback program according to a report released this week by the NCAA. Razorback student-athletes that entered school in 2014 earned a GSR of 85 percent, the highest GSR in school history, tying the program record set last year.

The latest GSR marked the 13th-consecutive rate of more than 70 percent by Razorback student-athletes. It marks the sixth-consecutive year that the GSR has been 78 percent or higher with this year’s GSR ranking reaching 80 percent or better for the fourth time.

The GSR was developed as an improved measurement tool for tracking student-athletes’ academic progress leading toward graduation. The University of Arkansas has steadily improved its GSR rate since the measurement was implemented 17 years ago rising from an initial rate of 60 percent to a record 85 percent in the numbers released this week. In 2020-21, 104 Razorback student-athletes paved their names onto Senior Walk as graduates of the University of Arkansas. In the past six years, the program has averaged more than 100 graduates a year.

“Graduation is an essential component to fulfilling our mission of Building Champions and Razorbacks for Life,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “Our focus has and will continue to be helping ensure that every student-athlete, who exhausts his or her eligibility at the University of Arkansas, leaves our program with a degree. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our student-athletes, coaches and members of our academic support team, our program continues to achieve program bests in NCAA graduation success rate and other academic benchmarks. We still have room to grow as we continue to work to position our student-athletes for success today and in the future.”

Also released on Tuesday was the latest information on federal graduation rate. The same 2014 cohort earned a Federal Graduation Rate of 63 percent, the highest Federal Graduation Rate in the history of the program.

In addition to the GSR and Federal Graduation Rate, the NCAA established the Academic Progress Rate (APR) that provides institutions with a more real-time indicator of academic success. Due to the pandemic, the NCAA did not release APR data in 2021. However, in the most recent APR release in 2020, Arkansas exceeded the APR benchmark in all 19 sports for the eighth consecutive year including each sport exceeding the benchmark by at least 28 points. The program earned a 983.5 APR average across all sports, marking the ninth straight year the program averaged has exceeded 970.

A program record seven Razorback programs were recognized with NCAA Public Recognition Awards for ranking among the top 10 percent of teams in their respective sports nationally. Women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, softball, swimming and diving, women’s tennis and volleyball all earned a perfect 1,000 multiyear rate The University of Arkansas has now earned a total of 36 public recognition awards since the program began, including 13 in the past two APR recognitions.

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Razorback Athletics Graduation Success Rates