HAMILTON – Colgate University student-athletes continue to set a national standard in the classroom, posting a 97 percent graduation success rate according to the new NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data released on Wednesday. 

Colgate's 97 percent GSR remains a leader among its peers and ranks alongside contemporaries such as Stanford and Vanderbilt. The success ranks well above the national Division I average of 90 percent, according to the NCAA's latest report for December 2023.

"Our student-athletes continue to set the national standard on campus, in the classroom, and in our community," said Colgate University Vice President and Director of Athletics Yariv Amir '01. "The most recent data from the NCAA once again shows that we as an institution recruit talented and motivated student-athletes who achieve great success in every field and every arena. I am proud to serve this institution and our student-athletes who embody our virtues each and every day."
 
Fifteen Perfect GSR Scores
Under the GSR formula, Colgate's 15 varsity athletics programs that totaled perfect GSR scores include women's basketball, men's and women's cross country/track, field hockey, golf, men's and women's ice hockey, women's lacrosse, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, men's swimming, men's and women's tennis, and volleyball. 

Two different measures of graduation rates are presented in the NCAA's report: Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) and Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR). The FGR indicates the percentage of freshmen who entered and received athletics aid during a given academic year who graduated within six years. The GSR adds to the first-time freshmen, those students who entered midyear and student-athletes who transferred into an institution and received athletics aid. Colgate also performed well in the federal guidelines with an average FDR score of 92, which is tied with Stanford for second nationally and once again ranks well above the Division I average of 69 percent. Colgate teams with perfect FGR rates included women's basketball, field hockey, and volleyball. 

About the NCAA Graduation Success Rate
The NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) is designed to reflect the proportion of student-athletes on any given team who earn a college degree within a six-year window of their initial enrollment. The GSR was developed in response to colleges and universities who asked for an alternative rate that more accurately reflects the movement among college student-athletes. The GSR takes into account incoming transfers who graduate from a different institution than the one they started at and transfers who leave an institution in good standing. This year's data is for the class of student-athletes who entered Colgate in 2016-17.