University of Detroit Mercy student-athletes have once again received high marks in the annual NCAA Graduation Success Rate figures which show that, overall, Division I student-athletes continue to perform well in the classroom, and more of them are graduating from college.  The school can also boast the highest rate in the State of Michigan (91) among the dozen schools that offer athletic programs at the Division I level.
 
From 2000-2003, Graduation Success Rates at UDM included five teams – women's cross country/track & field, fencing, softball and tennis and men's fencing– with perfect 100% figures. Of note, too, is the Titan men's basketball team, which had a GSR (90) that is 24% higher than the national rate for that sport and was the highest among all Horizon League men's basketball teams.
 
“I think this demonstrates the commitment to academic success that our student-athletes, athletic department and University have,” said Steve Corder, UDM's Assistant Athletic Director for NCAA Compliance. “This is a clear indication of the fact that when a student-athlete comes to the University of Detroit Mercy, they come to get a degree.”

According to the report released by the NCAA Wednesday, the Graduation Success Rate for student-athletes who began college in 2003 is 79 percent. While this rate matches the GSR for the past two years and continues to be the highest ever in Division I, it has risen five points in nine years of GSR collection.  

“Our work toward enhancing the opportunities for student-athletes to be successful academically isn't finished, but we continue to make progress,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert, who took over Oct. 5 after a lengthy career as a university president and chancellor at multiple Division I institutions. “Our student-athletes are engaged on their campuses, they are competing hard in all that they do, and there are achieving important successes on and off the field and court.”

Using the federal government's methodology, which does not count transfer students, Division I student-athletes who entered college in 2003 graduated at 64 percent, still the highest federal rate ever and one point higher than the general student body.
Although the federal rate for student-athletes has remained consistent the past two years, it has risen four points in the past nine years and 12 points since the rate was first calculated in 1984. It is the only measure to compare student-athlete graduation with the general student body.

The GSR and federal rate calculations measure graduation in a six-year time frame from initial college enrollment.

For more on the GSR, visit NCAA.org.