Swim & Dive's Academic Success to Impact the Bottom Line

Federal Graduation Rates

Federal Graduation Rates

In the NCAA’s latest release of academic success, swimming and diving stood at the top of their class. According to the NCAA, both men’s and women’s swimming and diving both posted the highest federal graduation rates among all Division I sports with at least 100 sponsoring institutions.

The release is the first under the NCAA’s new academic distribution model and while good grades have always been a source of pride for swimmers and divers, they will now help their institutions earn academic distributions from the NCAA. Over $12 million will be distributed to eligible institutions beginning in the Summer of 2020. By 2023-24 the Academic Distribution Fund will rise to over $60 million.

“Whether through success in the pool, academic accolades, the creation of loyal graduates or service to the community, so much of what swimming and diving adds to a campus is anecdotal or hard to quantify,” explained CSCAA Executive Director Greg Earhart. “Now, however, administrators can see that the benefits are real.”

Under the NCAA’s academic distribution formula, programs can earn one academic achievement unit per year if its student-athletes earn an all-sport Academic Progress Rate of 985 or higher, Graduation Success Rate of 90% or higher or a federal graduation rate at least 13 percentage points higher than the general student body.

Thus far, 305 of 319 Division I swimming and diving programs have achieved at least one of these marks.

In the latest release, covering students who entered school in 2012, eighty-three percent of female and 77.5% of male swimmers and divers graduated. Overall, sixty percent of undergraduates (63 percent for females and 57 percent for males) graduated over the same period.

In addition to the federal standard, swimming and diving stood out using the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR). Using that methodology, which removes student-athletes who leave school while eligible and includes transfers, more than one-third of all Division I swimming and diving teams posted perfect academic scores Eighty-three women’s and thirty-six men’s teams achieved a score of 100%. In total, 123 teams posted the highest scores on their campuses.

Member Teams With 100% Graduation Success Rates

Women’s Teams

  • Arizona State University

  • Binghamton University

  • Boise State University

  • Boston College

  • Bucknell University

  • Butler University

  • California State, Bakersfield

  • Canisius College

  • Central Connecticut State University

  • Colgate University

  • College of the Holy Cross

  • Cornell University

  • Dartmouth College

  • Davidson College

  • Drexel University

  • Duquesne University

  • East Carolina University

  • Eastern Illinois University

  • Florida Gulf Coast University

  • Fordham University

  • George Mason University

  • George Washington University

  • Georgetown University

  • Georgia Southern University

  • Harvard University

  • Indiana University

  • Iona College

  • La Salle University

  • Lafayette College

  • Lehigh University

  • Loyola Marymount University

  • Loyola University Maryland

  • Manhattan College

  • Marshall University

  • Miami University (Ohio)

  • Mount St. Mary's University

  • New Mexico State University

  • Northeastern University

  • Northern Arizona University

  • Northwestern University

  • Pepperdine University

  • Princeton University

  • Providence College

  • Rice University

  • Rutgers University

  • Saint Francis University (PA)

  • Saint Louis University

  • Saint Peter's University

  • Seattle University

  • Seton Hall University

  • Siena College

  • Stony Brook University

  • Tulane University

  • University at Buffalo

  • University of Akron

  • University of Alabama

  • University of California, Berkeley

  • University of Cincinnati

  • University of Denver

  • University of Evansville

  • University of Georgia

  • University of Illinois

  • University of Illinois at Chicago

  • University of Iowa

  • University of Kentucky

  • University of Miami (FL)

  • University of Missouri

  • University of Nebraska

  • University of New Hampshire

  • University of North Carolina Asheville

  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  • University of North Florida

  • University of Notre Dame

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • University of Rhode Island

  • University of Richmond

  • University of South Carolina

  • University of Southern California

  • University of Texas at Austin

  • University of Virginia

  • University of Wisconsin

  • Villanova University

  • Wagner College

  • William & Mary

  • Xavier University

  • Yale University

Men’s Teams

  • American University

  • Boston College

  • Boston University

  • Brown University

  • Canisius College

  • Cleveland State University

  • Dartmouth College

  • Davidson College

  • Duke University

  • Eastern Illinois University

  • Fairfield University

  • Florida Atlantic University

  • Fordham University

  • Georgia Tech

  • Harvard University

  • Indiana University

  • Louisiana State University

  • Loyola University Maryland

  • Manhattan College

  • NJIT

  • Niagara University

  • Providence College

  • Rider University

  • Saint Peter's University

  • Stanford University

  • Texas A&M University

  • Texas Christian University

  • Towson University

  • U.S. Military Academy

  • University of Cincinnati

  • University of Denver

  • University of Evansville

  • University of Miami (Florida)

  • University of Pittsburgh

  • Xavier University

Member Teams With 100% Federal Graduation Rates

Women’s Teams

  • Binghamton University

  • Bucknell University

  • Colgate University

  • Georgetown University

  • Iowa State University

  • Lafayette College

  • Northeastern University

  • Princeton University

  • Rice University

  • University of North Carolina Asheville

  • University of Notre Dame

  • University of Pennsylvania

Men’s Teams

  • Ball State University

  • Davidson College

  • Duke University

  • Fordham University

  • Georgia Tech

  • NJIT

  • Princeton University

  • Providence College

  • Southern Methodist University

  • Stanford University

  • Texas A&M University

  • University of Cincinnati

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • Virginia Military Institute

  • William & Mary

Greg Earhart