GLVC Remains a Leader in NCAA Division II Academic Success
INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference continues to rank as one of the nation’s premier NCAA Division II conferences for academic success. Among the 24 NCAA Division II conferences analyzed in the report provided by the national office Wednesday, the GLVC ranked tied for second in Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) at 67 percent and third in Academic Success Rate (ASR) at 84 percent for all student-athletes.
The GLVC’s FGR improved two percentage points from a year ago, while its ASR remained at 84 percent.
Additionally, the GLVC was the lone Division II conference to see each of its member institutions equal or exceed the national four-year FGR (57 percent) and ASR (73 percent) averages.
The Northeast-10 Conference had the highest FGR percentage at 70, while the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tied the GLVC for second overall. For ASR, the Sunshine State Conference and Northeast-10 led the way at 86 percent, followed by the GLVC at 84 percent.
Since 2012, the GLVC has annually ranked among the nation’s top three Division II conferences in both FGR and ASR.
The report, which focuses on the academic success of freshman cohorts who enrolled in school between 2008-11, and were then given a six-year window to graduate, indicates that 4,176 of the GLVC’s 4,967 student-athletes earned their degrees, which established the conference’s ASR. The FGR was calculated by 2,275 graduates among 3,380 selected student-athletes.
According to the NCAA, 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 73 percent ASR figure, the national FGR for Division II student-athletes of 57 percent is seven percentage points higher than the overall student body at Division II colleges and universities.