Chart: College Athletes' Graduation-Success Rates: Highest and Lowest - Athletics

College Athletes' Graduation-Success Rates: Highest and Lowest

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's "graduation success rate" differs from federal graduation statistics because it accounts for students who transfer. The NCAA's figures, unlike the federal ones, do not penalize an institution for athletes who leave to attend other colleges, as long as they depart in good academic standing. Here are the Division I colleges with the highest and lowest graduation-success rates for athletes who entered college between 1999 and 2002. The federal rates for athletes, and for the general student body, for those who entered college during that same period are also given for comparison.

Highest
	Graduation-Success Rate	Federal Graduation Rate for Athletes	Federal Graduation Rate for Student Body
U. of Notre Dame	99	90	95
Colgate U.	99	88	90
U.S. Naval Academy	98	*	85
Wofford College	97	78	79
U. of New Hampshire	97	75	73
Northwestern U.	97	88	93
Lafayette College	97	86	90
Furman U.	97	77	85
Duke U.	97	88	93
Davidson College	97	91	91
College of the Holy Cross	97	91	92
Lowest
Utah Valley University	28	21	15
Chicago State U.	38	28	15
Florida A&M U.	41	34	42
North Carolina A&T U.	42	45	39
Portland State U.	42	48	35
Jackson State U.	43	46	38
Delaware State U.	45	47	36
Savannah State U.	46	47	34
Texas Southern U.	47	42	13
Southern U. at Baton Rouge	48	49	28
Source: National Collegiate Athletic Association
* The NCAA did not provide data about the federal graduation rate of the Naval Academy's athletes.