On Graduation, Swim & Dive Make the Podium

NCAA Reports 110 Swimming & Diving Teams Post Perfect 100 GSR’s

For swimmers and divers, a gold medal is the ultimate achievement.  In the latest release of academic success among student-athletes, however, it appears that swimmers and divers are succeeding as much in the classroom as they are in the pool.

NCAA President Mark Emmert cited the role of academic reforms that have helped raise overall graduation rates, but in the case of swimming and diving, student-athletes appear to be doing just fine.  In a release on November 4th, the NCAA reported that the four-year Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for Division I college athletes has climbed to 83 percent. The performances of swimmers and divers in the classroom outpace those overall improvements.

Swimming and diving teams four-year GSR rose to 90.1%, seven points higher than other teams and nearly 25% higher than the rest of their student peers.   The four-year GSR among women’s teams rose a full point to 93% while men’s teams stayed at 86%.  Both men and women ranked second among sports with at least one hundred sponsoring institutions with women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis leading the way.    These results reflect the culmination of swimmers and divers’ classroom efforts.  Last semester 174 women’s teams and 92 men’s teams earned GPA’s of 3.0 or higher.

Joel Shinofield, Executive Director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) attributes much of swimmers and divers’ success due to their drive, the lessons they learn in the pool as well as the high expectations of their coaches.  We know that when college students have a strong mentor and are engaged they perform better in the classroom and graduate at a higher rate. “We are finding that swimmers and divers tend to take especially rigorous course loads.”  According to Shinofield, 40% of all Division I swimmers and divers, women and men, are pursuing degrees in the STEM fields based on a survey conducted last spring.

Swimmers and divers also continued to excel vis-à-vis the rest of the student body.  Of 327 Division I teams, all but ten equaled or bettered the graduation rate of their student body.   On average, the graduation rates among men’s swimmers and divers exceeded the rest of the student body by 22% while female swimmers and divers were 18.9% higher.  

Over one hundred swimming & diving teams posted perfect 100% GSR’s.  These included 71 Division I Women’s teams and nineteen men’s teams.

Full details of the NCAA report can be found at: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/graduation-success-rate-continues-climb

The complete list of Swimming & Diving teams earning a 3.0 GPA or higher can be found at: http://www.cscaa.org/scholar-all-american/

Teams Earning Perfect GSR Scores

Source: NCAA report on GSR from entering class of 2008.

Division I Women

University of Arkansas
Boston College
Boston University
Bowling Green
Brown University
Bryant University
Bucknell University
University at Buffalo
Butler University
California State-Bakersfield
Campbell University
Colgate University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
University of Denver
Drexel University
Duke University
Duquesne University
Eastern Michigan University
Fairfield University
Florida Atlantic University
George Mason University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
University of Georgia
Harvard University
University of Hawaii
Holy Cross
University of Idaho
Indiana University
Iona College
James Madison University
Lafayette College
Lehigh University
Liberty University
Loyola Marymount University
Marshall University
Miami (Florida)
University of Michigan
University of New Hampshire
North Carolina State University
UNC--Wilmington
University of North Carolina
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
University of Notre Dame
Ohio University
University of the Pacific
Princeton University
Rice University
Rider University
Saint Francis University (PA)
University of San Diego
Seton Hall University
Siena College
University of South Carolina
Stanford University
Tulane University
U.S. Military Academy
Vanderbilt University
Villanova University
Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Tech
University of Virginia
Wagner College
Western Illinois University
UW-Green Bay
Xavier University
Yale University

Division I Men

University of Alabama
American University
Brown University
Bucknell University
Colgate University
Columbia University
Dartmouth College
Fordham University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Holy Cross
Lafayette College
Loyola University Maryland
University of North Carolina
Notre Dame
Providence College
Villanova University
Xavier University
Yale University

Division II Men

Adelphi University
Bentley University
Clarion University
Concordia University Irvine
Lindenwood University
Nova Southeastern University
Rollins College
Saint Michael's College
Simon Fraser University

Division I Women

UC-San Diego
University of Indianapolis
University of Tampa
Ursuline College
Wheeling Jesuit University
Nova Southeastern University
Queens College (New York)
Rollins College
Saint Michael's College
Simon Fraser University
West Virginia Wesleyan College