TOWSON, Md. – The NCAA has released the latest Division I graduation rate data, including information on Towson University and the division's Graduation Success Rate (GSR).
One of Towson's primary strategic themes is Student-Athlete Academic Success, and Towson Athletics has earned strong marks, helping solidify its place as of the top academic athletic departments in the country.
As an athletic department, Towson stands with an 87% NCAA GSR, the highest success rate among all Division I University of Maryland System (USM) institutions. In addition, Towson has the highest black student-athlete federal graduation rate, also ranking in the top-15% nationally, and highest female student-athlete federal graduation rate among all DI USM institutions.
Towson's 87% GSR is higher than the overall FCS Division I average GSR for student-athletes.
The latest graduation success rate report details cohorts from 2008-2011. Five Towson teams, baseball, men's basketball, field hockey, women's soccer and men's swimming & diving, earned a perfect 100 GSR, having the highest GSR among its counterpart sports in the CAA, while four other Towson teams, women's cross country/track & field, women's lacrosse, softball and women's swimming & diving, earned a 90 GSR or higher. In addition, women's basketball has a 100% federal graduation rate.
The Division I Board of Directors created the GSR in response to Division I college and university presidents who wanted data that more accurately reflected the mobility of college students than the federal graduation rate. The federal rate counts any student who leaves a school as an academic failure, no matter whether he or she enrolls at another school. Also, the federal rate does not recognize students who enter school as transfer students.
The GSR formula removes from the rate student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible and includes student-athletes who transfer to a school after initially enrolling elsewhere. This calculation makes it a more complete and accurate look at student-athlete success. The federal graduation rate, however, remains the only measure to compare student-athletes with the general student body.
- TowsonTigers.com –
