Academic Success Rate Indicator Once Again Provides Great News
The NCAA has released the latest Division II graduation
rate data, including the division's Academic Success Rate
(ASR), which once again held great news for the
Northeast-10 Conference and NCAA Division II as a whole.
As a conference, the NE-10 had six of its 15 members
achieve a department ASR of at least 90 percent in the
nation, and four that achieved a score of 95 percent or
better. Four in the top ten nationally was higher than any
other Division II Conference in the country.
Saint Michael’s was tied for fourth in Division II with an overall total
of 98 percent of its student-athletes graduating. Bentley tied for sixth
with 97 percent of student-athletes earning their degree, while Stonehill
(96%) and Assumption (95%) also were among the top-10 in the country.
The ASR calculates the percentage of student-athletes that earn a degree
within six years of their initial matriculation in college. 84 different
Northeast-10 teams achieved a perfect academic success rate of 100 for
their entering classes of 2007. That number reflects an increase of eight teams from last year's report.
"The impressive academic successes of our 6,500 student-athletes is remarkable," said Northeast-10 commissioner Julie Ruppert. "It illustrates that
both our institutions and our student-athletes are truly committed to success well beyond the playing field. These individuals are able to balance
high-level athletic competition with a similar dedication to academic pursuits. We couldn't be more proud to tell the story of their accomplishments."
Saint Michael's led all Northeast-10 member institutions with 14 of their 18 conference teams having achieved perfect ASR scores of 100. Bentley
was second with a total of 14 teams achieving a perfect ASR of 100, while Assumption and Stonehill each had nine.
The remaining Northeast-10 schools that ranked in the top-30 nationally included Merrimack (21st – 91%) and Saint Anselm (24th – 90%).
Ten of the league's 24-sponsored sports featured at least five programs with an ASR of 100%. Field hockey and women's tennis each had eight
sponsoring member institutions with a perfect score, while men's and women's tennis and women's basketball had seven teams achieve a perfect
graduation rate.
Even when utilizing the less-inclusive federal rate, Division II student-athletes perform significantly better than the general student body. The
federal rate for the 2007 entering class of student-athletes was 55 percent, an increase of one point from 2006, while the general student body
remained steady at 48 percent, a difference of seven points.
This is the ninth year the NCAA has released the Division ASR. The NCAA developed the Division II ASR at the
request of college and university presidents who believed the federal graduation rate was flawed. Division II's ASR
data is similar to the Division I Graduation Success Rate as it takes transfer students in account.
NCAA Division II Academic Success Rate - National Leaders
1 Simon Fraser University 100
1 Southern Wesleyan University 100
3 Davis and Elkins College 99
4 Point Loma Nazarene University 98
4 Saint Michael's College 98
6 Bentley University 97
6 University of Sciences 97
8 Rockhurst University 96
8 Stonehill College 96
10 Assumption College 95
10 William Jewell College 95
12 Rogers State University 94
12 Univ. of Puerto Rico, Bayamon 94
14 Maryville Univ of Saint Louis 93
14 Seattle Pacific University 93
14 St. Edward's University 93
14 University of Calif, San Diego 93
18 Georgian Court University 92
18 Hillsdale College 92
18 Rollins College 92
21 Cedarville University 91
21 Merrimack College 91
21 Regis University (Colorado) 91
24 Christian Brothers University 90
24 Eckerd College 90
24 Saint Anselm College 90