For the third consecutive year and the seventh time overall, Baylor led the Big 12 Conference in Graduation Success Rate based on data released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Baylor's Big 12 co-leading Graduation Success Rate score of 87 was again matched by TCU and ranked ahead of Oklahoma (85), Kansas (85), Texas (84), West Virginia (83), Kansas State (82), Iowa State (82), Texas Tech (81) and Oklahoma State (68) among league schools. BU, which has finished either first or second among Big 12 schools in composite GSR score eight times in the last 10 years, also produced the Big 12’s top GSR mark in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014 and 2015. BU’s 2017 score was 1 point lower than its 2015 mark.
Baylor’s 2016 male student-athlete GSR score of 81 tied TCU and Kansas for the top spot in the Big 12, while its female GSR score of 93 tied with Iowa State and Texas for fourth in the conference behind Oklahoma (95), TCU (94) and West Virginia (94). BU’s male GSR score equaled its 2015 mark, while its female GSR score dropped 1 point from a year ago.
Four Baylor programs produced league-leading GSR scores---men's golf (100), women's golf (100), women's tennis (100) and men’s cross country/track & field (90), while 12 of its programs met or exceeded the national GSR threshold in their respective sport for all Division I institutions.
The NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) was developed to more accurately assess the academic performance of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport. Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution's GSR cohort. The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2006-2009. The NCAA began compiling these figures with the entering freshmen class of 1995.
After leading the Big 12 a year ago with a federal graduation rate of 77 percent for all student-athletes, Baylor graduated 61 percent in the most-recent study to rank eighth overall among Big 12 institutions. BU and Iowa State led the conference with a 61 percent federal graduation rate for its male student-athletes while BU’s female student-athlete fed rate also stood at 61 percent.
Baylor has finished either first or second in the fed grad rate report 10 times in the league's 21-year history, produced the league's top mark in 2015, 2012, 2004, 2001, 2000, 1998 and 1996, and has graduated at least 60 percent of its student-athletes 17 times in the Big 12’s 21-year history.
