INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference ranks among one of the nation’s top NCAA Division II conferences for academic success, it was announced this past week by the NCAA. Among the 22 NCAA Division II conferences analyzed in the report, the GLVC tied for fourth in the Academic Success Rate (ASR) at 79 percent and tied for fifth in the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) at 61 percent for all student-athletes.
The report, which focuses on the academic success of freshman cohorts who enrolled in school between 2001-04, and were then given a six-year window to graduate, indicates that 3,041 of the GLVC’s 3,842 student-athletes earned their degrees, which established the conference’s ASR. The FGR was calculated by 1,690 graduates among 2,748 selected student-athletes.
The Sunshine State Conference paced all Division II leagues with an ASR of 86 percent, followed by the Northeast-10 Conference (85%), East Coast Conference (81%), and the Conference Carolinas (79%) and GLVC. As for the FGR, the Northeast-10 led all conferences at 70 percent, while the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (64%), East Coast (62%), and Sunshine State (61%) and GLVC rounded out the top five.
The GLVC also ranked among the nation’s finest in individual sports. In baseball, the GLVC tied for first with the Northeast-10 Conference with an ASR of 80 percent, graduating 415 of the 519 enrollees. The GLVC also rated third-best in men’s basketball (74%) and women’s basketball (88%), while placing fourth under the “women’s other sports” category (89%), including every sport with the exception of basketball, track and field, and cross country.
Also of note, the GLVC’s FGR and ASR rates were higher than the national Division II averages for each sport as well as the category representing all student-athletes.
According to NCAA.org, the Division II ASR, which was first introduced in 2005, is a rolling average of the graduation outcomes for Division II student-athletes. Even when using the less-inclusive federal rate (which does not include transfer student-athletes and mid-year enrollees), Division II student-athletes perform significantly better than the general student body. In addition to the 72 percent ASR figure, the FGR for Division II student-athletes is 55 percent, seven percentage points higher than the overall student body at Division II colleges and universities.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS RATE /
GLVC Sports |
Enrolled |
Graduated |
Rate |
D-II Rate |
| Entire Student Body |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| All Student-Athletes |
3842 |
3041 |
79% |
72% |
| Football |
507 |
327 |
64% |
54% |
| Men's Basketball |
212 |
157 |
74% |
60% |
| Baseball |
519 |
415 |
80% |
70% |
| Men's Track/Cross Country |
297 |
217 |
73% |
72% |
| Men's Other Sports |
843 |
625 |
74% |
73% |
| Women's Basketball |
210 |
185 |
88% |
79% |
| Women's Track/Cross Country |
225 |
195 |
87% |
84% |
| Women's Other Sports |
1029 |
920 |
89% |
84% |
FEDERAL GRADUATION RATE /
GLVC Sports |
Enrolled |
Graduated |
Rate |
D-II Rate |
| Entire Student Body |
34421 |
15135 |
44% |
48% |
| All Student-Athletes |
2748 |
1690 |
61% |
55% |
| Football |
442 |
197 |
45% |
43% |
| Men's Basketball |
114 |
66 |
58% |
46% |
| Baseball |
267 |
154 |
58% |
52% |
| Men's Track/Cross Country |
176 |
110 |
63% |
53% |
| Men's Other Sports |
554 |
317 |
57% |
53% |
| Women's Basketball |
159 |
106 |
67% |
61% |
| Women's Track/Cross Country |
161 |
112 |
70% |
66% |
| Women's Other Sports |
875 |
628 |
72% |
64% |