FAYETTEVILLE — Seventy-nine percent of the athletes who enrolled at the University of Arkansas between 2008-11 graduated within six years, according to numbers released by the NCAA on Wednesday.
The 79 percent score was Arkansas’ second highest in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR), a percentage point lower than a year ago when the Razorbacks had an overall score of 80.
GSR is a calculation of how many athletes graduate within six academic years of college enrollment. According to NCAA figures, 91 percent of Arkansas’ female athletes graduated during the latest reporting period, while 68 percent of male athletes graduated.
According to UA figures, 61.5 percent of all incoming students graduated in the latest six-year snapshot.
The Razorbacks’ latest overall score is significantly higher than the 60 received in the NCAA’s first GSR report in 2005, but still well behind other programs in the Southeastern Conference.
Arkansas’ 79 overall grade is four points behind Texas A&M for last in the 14-member SEC. Vanderbilt, the conference’s only private university, had the highest overall GSR score of 97, followed by South Carolina (94) and Missouri (91).
"We must continue to educate our student-athletes on the importance of academics success and the value of earning a degree from the University of Arkansas," said Hunter Yurachek, the Razorbacks' first-year athletics director.
Yurachek noted that 90 percent of athletes that finished their eligibility the last academic year had graduated, but those athletes' graduations won't be reflected in the GSR score for at least two, and in most cases three more years.
The Razorbacks scored last in the SEC in the two most high-profile sports, football (56) and men’s basketball (50). The football score is down four points from a year ago and the basketball score is down 25 points. Both sports recorded their highest GSR scores in the 2017 report.
The latest figures reflect the graduation percentages for football athletes recruited by former head coach Bobby Petrino, and who were seniors between 2011-14. The basketball figures are for the final three freshman classes for former coach John Pelphrey and the first freshman class for current coach Mike Anderson - athletes who were seniors between the 2011-12 and 2014-15 seasons.
Arkansas baseball had a score of 75, which was 10 points higher than a year ago, and 12th among SEC schools. The figure reflects the rate for newcomers on the Razorbacks’ 2009-12 teams.
The GSR does not penalize programs for transfers or early departures, as long as the athletes leave the university in good academic standing.
Six Arkansas programs - gymnastics, soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s golf and volleyball - had 100 percent graduation rates in the latest reporting cycle.
Other notable scores include 77 for women’s basketball, 83 for women’s cross country/track and 78 for men’s cross country/track. The women’s basketball score remained the same as last year, the women’s track score rose by two points and the men’s track score dropped by a point.
GSR is one of two annual report cards issued by the NCAA to track academic trends in college athletics. The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is released each spring and focuses on athletes' eligibility and retention during four-year and single-year periods.
ARKANSAS GSR SCORES
Gymnastics 100
Soccer 100
Men’s Tennis 100
Volleyball 100
Women’s Golf 100
Women’s Tennis 100
Swimming/Diving 96
Men’s Golf 91
Softball 86
Women’s Cross Country/Track 83
Men’s Cross Country/Track 78
Women’s Basketball 77
Baseball 75
Football 56
Men's Basketball 50
SEC OVERALL GSR SCORES
Vanderbilt 97
South Carolina 94
Missouri 91
Alabama 89
LSU 89
Mississippi State 89
Kentucky 88
Tennessee 86
Florida 85
Ole Miss 85
Auburn 84
Georgia 84
Texas A&M 83
Arkansas 79
SEC FOOTBALL GSR SCORES
Vanderbilt 95
South Carolina 93
Missouri 89
Alabama 84
Mississippi State 83
Florida 74
Kentucky 74
Tennessee 74
LSU 73
Auburn 72
Texas A&M 71
Ole Miss 68
Georgia 58
Arkansas 56
SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL GSR SCORES
Alabama 100
South Carolina 100
Vanderbilt 100
Georgia 90
Texas A&M 90
LSU 89
Tennessee 89
Kentucky 83
Florida 75
Ole Miss 73
Missouri 69
Auburn 64
Mississippi State 64
Arkansas 50
SEC BASEBALL GSR SCORES
Missouri 100
Ole Miss 95
Vanderbilt 94
Alabama 90
LSU 90
Florida 86
Tennessee 85
Kentucky 82
Mississippi State 81
Georgia 78
South Carolina 78
Arkansas 75
Texas A&M 74
Auburn 70