Nebraska Graduation Success Rate Hits All-Time High of 95 Percent
Lincoln, NE (December 2, 2021) University of Nebraska student-athletes have posted the highest rate in school history as they achieved a 95 percent NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR). The NCAA released its GSR scores on Thursday, with Nebraska ranked fourth of out 109 public Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions.
Nebraska’s 95 percent GSR rate for all student-athletes is tied for third among 14 Big Ten schools. On the national scale, Nebraska’s GSR is tied for 10th out of 130 FBS institutions. The 95 percent GSR rate marks the 11th straight year Nebraska has increased its GSR.
“We have always taken pride in being a leader in academic achievement at the University of Nebraska,” Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Trev Alberts said. “I am honored to serve at a school that focuses on developing well-rounded student-athletes, and I am proud of the young men and women who have worked to earn their degrees while competing as a Nebraska student-athlete.”
The Huskers’ record-high GSR score includes 13 programs that achieved a perfect 100 percent GSR. Those teams included baseball, men’s basketball, men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, rifle, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, women’s tennis, and volleyball.
The women’s basketball, women’s tennis and volleyball programs have achieved a perfect GSR each of the 17 years the rate has been computed by the NCAA. Overall, 17 of Nebraska’s 19 sports programs set or tied the highest GSR score in program history.
The Husker football program continues a long tradition of ranking among the national academic leaders. The football program achieved a 90 percent GSR, which is the highest in school history and well above the national average of 81 percent among FBS schools. Men’s track and field/cross country (96 percent), wrestling (95 percent), and baseball (100 percent) also achieved their highest GSR in school history.
“We are very proud that our student-athlete graduation rate has reached the highest point in school history at 95 percent,” Executive Associate Athletic Director-Academics Dennis Leblanc said. “The Big Ten Conference owns some of the top graduation rates in the nation and Nebraska is honored to be associated with those other institutions. Our GSR score is a great accomplishment by our student-athletes and a testament to the academic staff, as well as our coaches who have recruited these men and women to come to the University of Nebraska. We are extremely excited about this accomplishment and look forward to continuing the graduation success of student-athletes for years to come.”
Nebraska leads the nation with 347 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in school history across all sports. Nebraska also leads the nation with 18 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award winners.
The GSR is an NCAA measurement that, unlike the federally mandated graduation rates, includes transfer data in the calculation. The GSR data released Tuesday is based on four classes of scholarship student-athletes who entered college in the fall of 2011 to the fall of 2014.
The GSR allows for a six-year window in which the student-athlete can earn his or her degree. Although the GSR includes student-athletes who transferred to Nebraska, it does not count student-athletes who transferred to another school and were academically eligible at the time of their transfer.
Top 10 GSR Among Public FBS Institutions (109 Schools)
School All Student-Athlete GSR
Miami (Ohio) 96
Minnesota
South Carolina 96
Nebraska
Clemson 95
Illinois
Michigan 95
Virginia
Memphis
Auburn
