University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Football Graduation Rate Honored By AFCA
October 23, 2008 | Football
Oct. 23, 2008
For the fifth consecutive year, the University of North Carolina has been recognized for graduating at least 70 percent of its football student-athletes by the America Football Coaches Association. Carolina was one of six Atlantic Coast Conference institutions to receive the honor. The ACC was the top BCS conference, followed by the Pac-10 with five.
This year's award marks the first time the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) formuala has been used to select the winner. From 1981 to 2007 the award was presented based on a formula used by the College Football Association and AFCA.
Forty-seven institutions will be recognized for graduating 70 percent or more of their football student-athletes. They are Cincinnati, Duke, Navy, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Air Force, Akron, Alabama, Arkansas State, Army, Baylor, Boston College, Bowling Green, Central Florida, Central Michigan, Colorado, Colorado State, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee State, Nevada, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio, Oregon State, Penn State, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Texas Tech, Toledo, UCLA, Utah State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State and Wisconsin.
The GSR is based on a six-year graduation window for student-athletes which is a change from the five-year window used by the CFA and AFCA. The GSR was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees.
Under GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are passed to the receiving institution's GSR cohort. By counting incoming transfer students and midyear enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by more than 37 percent. The NCAA also calculates the federal graduation rate for student-athletes because it is the only rate by which to compare student-athletes to the general student body.
Conference Breakdown: Mid-American (7), Atlantic Coast (6), Pac-10 (5), Big 10 (4), Big East (4), Southeastern (4), Big 12 (3), Conference USA (3), Independent (3), Mountain West (3), Western Athletic (3), Sun Belt (2).
