COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland has earned an institutional Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 85 percent in figures released today by the National Collegiate Athletics Association. It marks the seventh time in the twelve-year history of the metric that Maryland has been above 80 percent. 

Maryland's Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) for student-athletes was reported at 70 percent, 4 percent higher than the overall NCAA Division I average of 66 percent.

The football program posted a mark of 78 percent, the highest mark in program history and higher than the NCAA FBS average of 74 percent. The Maryland men's basketball program earned a GSR score of 83 percent, its third-highest in program history, and higher than the NCAA Division I average of 76 percent.  Women's basketball posted a GSR score of 89 percent, two percent higher than the NCAA Division I average of 87 percent.

Overall, Maryland's GSR rate of 85 percent is higher than the NCAA Division I average of 84 percent. 

“Our student-athletes continue to raise the bar for academic achievement at the University of Maryland,” said director of athletics Kevin Anderson. “We are very proud of the hard work and commitment they have dedicated to academics. Our mission is for our students to graduate with meaningful degrees and prepare them to serve as leaders in the community following their time at Maryland.”

 “Our student-athletes work very hard in the classroom and we are seeing great results in the GSR scores,” said Chris Uchacz, associate A.D. for academic services and career development. “I attribute much of this success to the coaches and the emphasis they put on academics. Without their support, we could not achieve as well as we have and will continue to do.” 

In this most recent data, 14 teams at Maryland earned GSRs at or above 80 percent.  Field hockey, women's golf, gymnastics, tennis, and volleyball had perfect 100 percent GSR scores. In addition to field hockey, women's golf, gymnastics, tennis, and volleyball, football (78), men's golf (90), men's lacrosse (85), men's track & field (79), wrestling (81), women's basketball (89), women's lacrosse (93), and women's soccer (96) all equaled or improved their GSR score from the previous year.  

The Graduation Success Rate is a four-year measure of freshmen and transfer student-athletes who entered the University of Maryland between the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2010. 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.

The GSR and FGR are separate from the NCAA's Academic Performance Rates (APR), which will be released in the spring 2017 semester.