Record Breaking Graduation Success

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – 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 2012 earned a GSR of 84 percent, the highest GSR in school history. The latest GSR marked the 11th-consecutive rate of more than 70 percent by Razorback student-athletes. It marks the fourth-consecutive year that the GSR has been 78 percent or higher with this year’s GSR ranking as only the second time the GSR has reached 80 percent.

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 15 years ago rising from an initial rate of 60 percent to a record 84 percent in the numbers released this week. In 2018-19, 97 Razorback student-athletes graduated, including 98 percent of student-athletes who exhausted their athletic eligibility.

“For the first time in the history of our program, our NCAA graduation success rate has exceeded 80 percent,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “We have continued to make measurable progress in fostering the success of our student-athletes on the path to graduation. However, we still have work to do to ensure every student-athlete who exhausts his or her athletic eligibility, is also an addition to Senior Walk as a University of Arkansas graduate.”

In addition to the GSR, the NCAA established the Academic Progress Rate (APR) that provides institutions with a more real-time indicator of academic success. Last spring, Arkansas exceeded the APR benchmark in all 19 sports for the seventh consecutive year including each sport exceeding the benchmark by at least 26 points. The program earned a 983.2 APR average across all sports, marking the eighth straight year the program averaged has exceeded 970.

A program record six 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, women’s tennis and volleyball all earned a perfect 1,000 multiyear rate. The University of Arkansas has now earned a total of 29 public recognition awards since the program was started.

Razorback Athletics Graduation Success Rates