Creighton Athletics has an NCAA graduation success rate of 97 percent

OMAHA, Neb. Nine teams from Creighton University had perfect graduation rates, and all 14 Bluejay programs were 91 percent or more, according to numbers released by the NCAA.

The GSR data shows the percentage of student athletes who receive athletics assistance and graduate within six years of entering college. The GSR formula deletes student athletes who drop out of school while they are academically eligible, and includes student athletes who transfer to a school after their initial enrollment at another school. This calculation enables a more precise assessment of the success of students and athletes. GSR numbers 2021 are based on first-year students who enrolled in 2014 and transfers that were enrolled between 2011 and 2014.

The state graduation rate remains the only measure used to compare student athletes with the general student body. With this measure, the student athletes finish nationwide with the same rate as the student body – 68 percent.

Creighton achieved a perfect GSR score of 100 percent in volleyball, women’s tennis, women’s soccer, women’s golf, rowing, women’s basketball, men’s tennis, men’s golf, and men’s cross-country skiing. It is the 17th year in a row that men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s tennis and women’s basketball have had a perfect GSR result, and the sixth reporting period in a row that men’s tennis has achieved a perfect result.

Nationwide, 89 percent of student athletes who started college in 2014 have graduated. That number is 11 percent better than 11 years ago and far better than the 74 percent mark when GSR tracking began in 2002.

“Academic achievement is of the utmost importance to BIG EAST schools and we are very proud that our student-athletes continue to achieve the highest levels in the classroom,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “We applaud faculty, academic professionals, and administrative staff at all of our locations for their efforts in helping our student athletes win the ultimate award: a college degree.”

The BIG EAST ranks third among all 32 DI conferences with an overall success rate of 95 percent and a federal completion rate of 78 percent. All 11 BIG EAST schools achieved an overall GSR of 91 percent or better.

Creighton had an overall GSR score of 97 percent, ranking 20th nationwide. Creighton is one of 21 schools with a GSR score of 95 percent or better in each of the past nine cycles and joins Belmont, Brown, Bucknell, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Gonzaga, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Loyola at (Md.), Northwestern, Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford and Yale.