TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University athletic department continues to earn high marks in graduation success rate (GSR) in the latest Division I (DI) graduation rate data. Towson earned a 91% GSR, its highest ever, continuing its tremendous success in the classroom as one of the top academic athletic departments in the country.
Towson's 91% GSR is the highest among all DI University System of Maryland (USM) institutions and is up from 90% the previous year. It is the second consecutive year where Towson has set a new department record for GSR.
Towson also has the highest single year graduation rate among the USM DI schools at 75%. Towson's single-year graduation rate is 6% above the national Division I average for that year.
Continuing one of its primary department goals of student-athlete academic success, Towson is earning strong marks in the classroom, with 18 of 19 Tigers teams having a 3.0 or better team grade point average (GPA) after the spring 2021 semester.
The GSR report details cohorts from 2011-14.
Six Towson teams earned a perfect 100% GSR from the 2011-14 GSR report: field hockey, men's golf, gymnastics, women's lacrosse, men's swimming & diving and tennis. Seven other teams have a GSR of at least 88%, the national GSR average.
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.
