Graduation Rates

[Bisonguy]

Looks like the Bison student-athletes are doing their homework:




NDSU sees 15 percent rise in graduation rate for athletes
By Jeff Kolpack *
jkolpack@forumcomm.com
The Forum - 02/09/2004

The graduation rate for student-athletes at North Dakota State increased by 15 percent from two years ago, a trend administrative officials say is essential under proposed Division I legislation.

The school took some heat from the 2001 “NCAA Graduation-Rates Report” when its 1994-95 freshman class graduated at a 44-percent clip. That figure jumped to 59 percent in the 2003 report.

“We are making greater strides in having the student-athlete understand the value of the degree,” said NDSU women’s athletic director Lynn Dorn.

NDSU will need to maintain a certain graduation rate standard under a Division I “Academic Performance Program.” If a school or specific sport fails to satisfy predetermined academic standards, it risks losing scholarships, post-season competition and restrictions on recruiting.

The Division I Board of Directors is discussing the proposal.

“I think it’s very probable that it will pass,” said Dorn, a former chair of the Division II Management Council.

It calls for a committee to identify minimum academic standards. Dorn said she doubts NDSU would be in danger of compliance.

“To the best of my knowledge, we would be just fine,” she said.

Although NDSU will officially begin a Division I transition next year, administrators and coaches have already been planning for higher Division I academic standards. The Division I graduation rate rose from 60 percent in 2002 to 62 percent last year, an increase the NCAA attributes to higher eligibility standards.

In 1995, Division I increased the minimum number of high school core courses from 11 to 13.

Schools similar to NDSU in size in Division I reflect the higher rate. The University of Northern Iowa had a 64 percent rate and Western Illinois 67 percent. Montana State graduated 52 percent of its athletes, 11 percent better than all students.


NDSU: advisors important

The NCAA compiles the Graduation-Rates Report each year. Although detailed in its findings, it does have its flaws, officials say.

It tracks only athletes who receive some type of athletics aid.

The rate is based on the comparison of student-athletes who enter a school as a full-time student and the number of those who graduated within six years. Athletes who transfer or simply quit a sport count against a school’s percentage.

“It can be subjective,” said Sylvia Barnier, the senior women’s administrator and assistant athletic director at Minnesota State-Moorhead.

NDSU’s 2001 rate placed last in the North Central Conference. Two years later, the school ranks fourth in the league.

“This is more what we anticipated,” Dorn said. “It’s not so much an improvement but an anomaly of the variables from the last one.”

Since the 2001 report, Dorn said the athletic department established the Athletic Academic Advisory Council in an effort to improve communication between athletes and academic advisors.

No longer can student-athletes register for classes on-line without a signed form from an advisor, which must be turned into an administrator. Dorn said that has helped student-athletes take the appropriate classes in maintaining progress toward a degree.

[Bisonguy]

cont'd:


The result: 1996-97 freshman student-athletes graduated at an 11-percent higher clip than the general student body. The four-class average, a compilation of 1993, ‘94, ‘95 and ‘96 freshman classes, was 54 percent for student-athletes and 47 percent for the general student body.

Broken down, the Bison football team had 50 percent of its freshman class graduate, up from 43 percent two years ago.

It appears that trend carried over to last semester. NDSU athletes had a dynamic fall semester in the classroom.

In a memo from Dorn and athletic director Gene Taylor to university administrators, the following statistics were included:

Forty athletes earned a 4.0 grade point average. 227 athletes (152 men, 75 women) had a 3.0 GPA or higher.

The semester average for the 266 male athletes was 3.03 and the average for the 112 female was 3.22. The overall average was 3.13.

“We’ve always had that kind of performance and we’re real pleased with it,” said George Wallman, vice president of student affairs. “The thing that’s important is they’re not just athletes but also students.”


MSUM: near NSIC bottom

MSUM had the second lowest 2003 rate in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, graduating 46 percent of the 1996-97 freshman class within six years.

Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota-Morris did not offer athletic aid in ‘96-97 and Morris has since left the league. But Moorhead’s figure is up from 39 percent in the 2001 Graduation-Rates Report.

Barnier said that was an acceptable figure, especially when compared to MSUM’s all-students’ average of 41 percent.

“That’s the measuring stick,” Barnier said. “I think 46 percent is fairly decent. As long as you keep graduating athletes above the student body rate, that looks good.”

But it’s below the average rate for all Division II schools, which was 52 percent.

Barnier said the tri-college system that allows shared classes between NDSU, MSUM and Concordia works against MSUM. A student-athlete can actually be working toward a degree at NDSU while attending MSUM, which counts against MSUM’s graduation rate.

“We always want to improve on the graduation rate,” she said. “It could be better.”


UND: return to normalcy

In what probably is a testament to the variables of the Graduation-Rates Report, UND had a 77 percent grade in 2001. It slipped to 56 percent in 2003, which is still OK with Jared Bruggeman, assistant athletic director for compliance and student life.

He prefers to look at the four-class average, which was 59 percent.

“It shows we’re consistent and that’s what we’re looking for,” he said.

Football was the big winner with the 1996-97 freshman class of which 82 percent graduated within six years.

Hockey isn’t specifically included in the Graduation Rates Report. Instead, it is grouped into an “other” category. But Bruggeman did say that instances of players leaving school to play professionally do hurt the program’s overall rating.

“Normally they have about a year left and they often don’t’ get back to it until several years later,” he said.

Although labeled a Division II school, the Division I Sioux hockey program will still have to keep its eye on the proposed Division I Academic Performance Program. Bruggeman said he doesn’t foresee any problems in meeting those guidelines.

“We’re doing well as it is,” he said.

UND’s 568 student-athletes had a productive fall semester. They had a cumulative GPA of 3.07, the 11th time in the past 12 semesters they reached 3.0 or higher. Fifty-five student-athletes had a 4.0 with the football team leading the way with 10.

“That will make kids graduate,” Bruggeman said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546