USC Athletics' Graduation Success Rate Hits All-Time High For Sixth Consecutive Year
October 16, 2019 | USC Athletics, Features
The 2019 GSR measures how many student-athletes in the classes of 2009 through 2012 graduated within six years of their enrollment.
That 90% figure is four percentage points higher than USC's 2018 mark. It also is 23 percentage points higher than it was when the NCAA first released GSR numbers in 2005.
Eleven of the 19 USC sports whose data was tracked by the NCAA had a GSR this year above 90%, including seven with a perfect 100%: men's and women's tennis (both 100%), defending NCAA champion men's water polo (100%), women's lacrosse (100%), women's rowing (100%), women's soccer (100%), women's swimming (100%), women's water polo (95%), women's track and field (94%) and men's and women's volleyball (92%). Five other teams scored in the 80% range: men's track and field (88%), women's basketball (87%), men's golf (86%), men's swimming (84%) and football (82%).
Nine USC teams either set or equaled all-time high GSR rates for their programs this year: the seven teams that scored 100%, plus men's volleyball and football. Football's rate, which is seven percentage points higher than 2018 and 27 percentage points better than its initial figure in 2005, was at a program high for the fourth consecutive year.
Seventeen USC teams saw their scores either improve from last year or stay the same: men's basketball (+10 percentage points), women's golf (+10), men's water polo (+8), football (+7), men's golf (+6), women's track and field (+6), women's volleyball (+6), women's swimming (+4), men's swimming (+3), men's volleyball (+2), women's water polo (+2), women's basketball (+1), men's tennis (even), men's track and field (even), women's rowing (even), women's soccer (even) and women's tennis (even).
"The continued increase of our graduation rates highlights our student-athletes' outstanding effort and performance in the classroom," said Dr. Denise Kwok, USC's director of Student-Athlete Academic Services. "These GSR figures are testament to the emphasis that USC places on academic success in the athletic department and the culture that has grown from that. We are thankful for the collaborative work among faculty, staff, coaches and the SAAS staff in the Stevens Academic Center that supports our student-athletes in their pursuit of academic and athletic excellence."
