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Oct. 25, 2011

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland posted an all-time high institutional Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 82 percent in figures released today by the National Collegiate Athletics Association. It marks the second time in the seven-year history of the metric that Maryland has been above 80 percent and the second straight year the campus set a school record.

Maryland's four-year Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) for student-athletes was 75 percent, the second time in the last five years the figure has been above 70 percent.

The Graduation Success Rate is a four-year measure of freshmen who entered Maryland between the fall of 2001 and the fall of 2004. It does not penalize the institution for those student-athletes who transfer from Maryland in good academic standing, as the FGR does. In addition, the GSR includes student-athletes who transfer into the institution and receive athletics aid, unlike the FGR.

Maryland's previous-best GSR of 80 percent came last year.

"Succeeding academically is of primary importance to everyone in our athletics department," said director of athletics Kevin Anderson. "This core value is something we take seriously. Although we're proud of these record-setting numbers, we will strive to continually improve in this area."

"Kevin made it very clear when he brought me here that our student-athletes' academic success was a top priority for him," said Chris Uchacz, associate A.D. for academic services and career development. "Our staff has worked very hard over the last year to improve our processes and support, and we'll continue to move in a positive direction."

Nineteen teams at Maryland earned GSRs at or above 80 percent. Women's swimming and water polo had 100 percent GSRs in the cohort. The wrestling team achieved a 92 percent GSR and was the highest-scoring men's team at Maryland.

Football, which received contemporaneous penalties for this year due to low Academic Progress Rates, earned a 59 percent GSR for this cohort. Anderson said the football team had made significant academic progress this year and does not anticipate further penalties from the NCAA.

Men's basketball posted a 46 percent GSR this year, which is up from 31 percent in 2010. Since 2006-07, the basketball program has successfully graduated 15 of 17 student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility. A perfect 11 of 11 student-athletes exhausting eligibility have graduated since the Fall 2007 semester. These numbers will have a significant impact on the coming years' FGR, GSR and APR.

The GSR and FGR are separate from the NCAA's Academic Performance Rates, which will be released in Spring 2012.

- Terps -