Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Graduation Rate Continues to Shine

More than 90% of men’s hockey players graduate, per latest NCAA data.

Graduation Rate Continues to Shine

NCAA men’s hockey student-athletes continue their remarkable academic success, posting a 91.6% NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the latest data, released Tuesday by the NCAA.

That single-year data, which measures student-athletes who enrolled in 2009, shows a 3-point increase from last year and significantly higher than the overall NCAA men’s sport average (81%). Only skiing, gymnastics, water polo and tennis had better single-year GSR performances among men’s sports.

NCAA.org: News release

“Men’s hockey student-athletes continue to demonstrate that it’s possible to achieve your athletic and academic dreams at the same time,” College Hockey Inc. Executive Director Mike Snee said. “The success of our sport in this NCAA data is a testament to these young men, their coaches, and the extraordinary institutions that they represent.”

The group of men’s hockey student-athletes who entered college in 2009 include dozens who have already reached the NHL. Among those is Boston College graduate Chris Kreider, who signed an NHL contract after three seasons in school but completed his degree last spring.

The NCAA also measures each sport’s GSR spanning a four-year period, with men’s hockey posting an 89% GSR for classes enrolling from 2006 through 2009. That marks an increase of 2 points from the previous four-class average and trails only gymnastics, water polo and fencing among men’s sports.

Men’s hockey’s average GSR from the past three years (90.7%) trails only gymnastics (91.4%) among men’s sports.

Ten schools recorded a perfect 100% GSR for the most recent four-year period of 2006-09: Bowling Green, Canisius, Colgate, Denver, Ferris State, Harvard, New Hampshire, Princeton, Providence and Quinnipiac. Seventeen more schools had rates of 88% or better.

Men’s hockey’s performance in the NCAA GSR follows similar success in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR). Hockey also leads all men’s sports in that measure, which examines student-athletes’ success in the class room and progress toward their degree. (See: April 21, 2016 release.)

For more on the NCAA GSR, visit ncaa.org.