UCLA Athletics has maintained a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 86% – a rate three percentage points higher than the national average of 83% for Division I schools.
The 2015 GSR cohort is based on scholarship student-athletes who entered college as freshmen or transfers in the 2005-06 through 2008-09 classes.
Five Bruin squads – men's water polo, women's basketball, women's golf, softball, and women's tennis - had a GSR of 100 percent. Fourteen of UCLA's 20 sports programs had a GSR of 80 percent or higher, and 10 of the 20 sports were at 90 percent or higher. For the last six years, football has increasingly improved its GSR, improving 38 percentage points since 2009 to its current total of 89%.
UCLA's overall GSR is the second-highest overall mark in the Pac-12 Conference at 86%, and the football team has the second-highest GSR among conference schools with 89%. The national average for FBS schools is 72%.
"UCLA is universally recognized for its strong combination of athletics and academics," said UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero. "This is obviously something we take great pride in. Not only are we fully committed to producing successful athletes and teams, it is our mandate to develop successful students and graduates as well."
The GSR is the NCAA's more comprehensive calculation of student-athlete academic success. The NCAA rate is more accurate than the federally-mandated methodology because it is more inclusive of the total student-athlete population. The GSR includes incoming transfers and students enrolling in the winter or spring quarters who receive athletics aid.
Student-athletes who leave an institution academically and athletically eligible to compete are removed from their respective cohorts. If former student-athletes return within their six-year window to make progress towards their degree, however, they are subsequently included back into the cohort. As a result, sports which have a higher level of attrition due to professional drafts may see their GSR lowered when a former student-athlete returns to pursue his or her degree. For example, within this cohort, baseball (7) and men's basketball (2) had former student-athletes return to UCLA to pursue their education within their six-year window, significantly lowering those team's respective GSRs.
Regardless of impact on GSR, UCLA remains committed to ensuring that every student-athlete has an opportunity to earn their degree, be it within or outside of their six-year window.