Dec. 4, 2007

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The latest NCAA report on graduation rates shows Western Washington University student-athletes once again graduating at rates far above the national average for NCAA Division II, and at rates higher than the Western student body as a whole.

Both the federally mandated graduation rate and the NCAA Academic Success Rate show that Western student-athletes entering in the 2000-01 academic year graduated at a rate 14 percentage points higher than the national average for Division II.

The 2007 findings show 69 percent of Viking student-athletes receive their degrees in six years or less. That was higher than the national average for NCAA II schools (55 percent), and also slightly higher than the average for the 10 schools in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (64 percent).

"These statistics not only reflect the fine academic work done by our student-athletes, they're also indicative of how well WWU supports and facilitates the balance between academics and athletics that defines Division II," said Dr. Brent Carbajal, Western's Faculty Athletic Representative.

"We're obviously very excited about our teams' athletic accomplishments, and the excellent classroom work that contextualizes and complements those successes make them even more impressive. Our student-athletes and Athletics advisors should be extremely proud of these numbers, as should the faculty."

Western student-athletes also scored five points higher on graduation rates than the WWU student body in general (69 to 64 percent). This compares favorably with national averages for Division II schools, where student-athletes edged students in general, 55 to 47 percent.

The 2007 Federal Graduation Rate Reports are based on student-athletes who entered universities during the 2000-01 academic year and graduated in six years or less. Student-athletes are defined as those "who received athletics aid" such as grants, scholarships, tuition waivers or other assistance from the institution upon initial enrollment.

Western's four-class (student-athletes entering 1997-2000) graduation rate of 66 percent is eight points better than the GNAC average (58 percent) and 11 points better than the Division II average (54 percent). Western's four-class graduation rate is two points better than that of the Western student body in general (64 percent). Students in general at Division II schools have an average graduation rate of 45 percent.

Using the NCAA Academic Success Rate, which includes all freshman student-athletes from the fall of 2000 and also accounts for student-athletes who transfer into or out of the institution, Western posted an 83 percent graduation rate, compared to the NCAA Division II national number of 69 percent. The average ASR of the 10 GNAC schools was 76.5 percent.