The Utah Red Rocks gymnastics continue to put the student in student-athlete after recording a perfect Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for the seventh-straight year. They were not the only program on campus to post a perfect score. In addition to gymnastics, men’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s skiing, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s tennis, and volleyball, all posted perfect GSRs. The University of Utah posted a mark of 90%, the highest in University history, which ranked second in the Pac-12. Football posted a GSR that was second in the Pac-12.
It is great to see that the Utah sports teams not only succeed but also in the classroom. Utah’s commitment to academics is great to see, and all of these athletes deserve a lot of credit for all of their hard work in the classroom and in the sports arena.
Below is the complete press release from Utah Athletics:
INDIANAPOLIS—The NCAA released its 2016-17 Graduation Success Rate (GSR) today and for the seventh-straight year the Utah gymnastics team recorded a perfect score. Overall, 90-percent of the student-athletes at the University of Utah graduated within six years from the time they enrolled as freshmen, its highest mark ever, and second among Pac-12 schools.
Also announced today was the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR), which revealed that Utah’s student-athletes over a four-year period are graduating at a higher rate than the U.’s general student population by nine percentage points (68%-59). The single-year GSR showed an even greater differential, with 74-percent of Utah’s student-athletes graduating in 2016-17 compared to 53-percent of the general student population.
The reason for the difference between the NCAA and federal graduation rates is that the former makes adjustments for circumstances such as transfers and church missions.
Utah had the best (or tied for the best) GSR in the Pac-12 in eight sports and all of them achieved a perfect score (gymnastics, men’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s skiing, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s tennis and volleyball). It marks the seventh-straight year that the gymnastics team and both tennis teams received perfect scores. Football’s GSR ranked second in the Pac-12.
Eleven Utah teams—gymnastics, baseball, men’s basketball, football, golf, men’s skiing, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, cross country/track, women’s tennis and volleyball—exceeded the overall Division I GSR for their sport.