NCAA graduation rates slowly rise in D-1
Arkansas lags behind rest of SEC
Bart Pohlman
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports
White student-athletes graduate three points higher than white students (67 percent to 64 percent), thanks in large part to the fact that white female student athletes graduate at a rate seven points higher than their student body counterparts.
Among the key subgroups, only white male student-athletes graduate at a rate lower than their counterparts (59 percent to 62 percent).
Looking at the rates of student-athletes, 71 percent of women graduated, compared to only 55 percent of males.
In individual sports, baseball players graduated at the lowest rate - only 45 percent.
These are national numbers and percentages, but it is interesting to also look at the percentages at the UA.
Low end of the totem pole
In exchange for scholarships, a college or university is supposed to graduate its student-athletes. Many schools fall woefully short of this ideal.
Over the past several years, the UA has been the worst among Southeastern Conference schools in the percentage of athletes who graduate.
Forty-nine percent of freshman scholarship athletes in 2000 graduated from the UA within six years - 14 percentage points behind the NCAA national average. Despite the fact that nationally, more student-athletes graduate than "traditional" students, the same doesn't hold true at the UA, where 56 percent of the student body graduates.
These are the students who represent the UA, yet more than half do not walk across the stage and receive a diploma at graduation.
The difference in genders, when it comes to graduation at the UA, is substantial. Sixty-eight percent of women student-athletes graduate, compared to only 29 percent of their male counterparts.
Looking at individual sports, men's basketball is the lowest, as zero percent graduated from the 2000 freshman class.
This trend has precedence at the UA, however.
Under former basketball coach Nolan Richardson, Arkansas graduated few, if any, players from year to year.
Among the key subgroups, only white male student-athletes graduate at a rate lower than their counterparts (59 percent to 62 percent).
Looking at the rates of student-athletes, 71 percent of women graduated, compared to only 55 percent of males.
In individual sports, baseball players graduated at the lowest rate - only 45 percent.
These are national numbers and percentages, but it is interesting to also look at the percentages at the UA.
Low end of the totem pole
In exchange for scholarships, a college or university is supposed to graduate its student-athletes. Many schools fall woefully short of this ideal.
Over the past several years, the UA has been the worst among Southeastern Conference schools in the percentage of athletes who graduate.
Forty-nine percent of freshman scholarship athletes in 2000 graduated from the UA within six years - 14 percentage points behind the NCAA national average. Despite the fact that nationally, more student-athletes graduate than "traditional" students, the same doesn't hold true at the UA, where 56 percent of the student body graduates.
These are the students who represent the UA, yet more than half do not walk across the stage and receive a diploma at graduation.
The difference in genders, when it comes to graduation at the UA, is substantial. Sixty-eight percent of women student-athletes graduate, compared to only 29 percent of their male counterparts.
Looking at individual sports, men's basketball is the lowest, as zero percent graduated from the 2000 freshman class.
This trend has precedence at the UA, however.
Under former basketball coach Nolan Richardson, Arkansas graduated few, if any, players from year to year.
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