BRIDGEPORT, Pa — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) rates as the best academic Division I conference in women’s water polo per the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Graduation Success Rates (GSR) released on December 6.
All graduation rates are based on completion of an undergraduate degree within six-years of entry into college. For all Division I sports, an average of 91% graduation success rate is achieved with men (86%) and women (95%) both exceeding 85%.
Over the 20 years of calculating single-cohort Graduation Success Rate, overall student-athlete graduation rates have risen from 74-to-91%.
In Division I women’s athletics, water polo holds an 93% GSR (aggregate six-year graduation rates for 2013-16 entering cohorts) to rate with skiing (99%), fencing (98%), gymnastics (98%), lacrosse (98%), field hockey (97%), ice hockey (97%), swimming (97%), tennis (97%), golf (96%), rowing (96%), soccer (96%), volleyball (95%), softball (94%) and women’s basketball (93%) in exceedingthe 93% plateau. Both bowling (92%) and cross-country/track (92%) trail water polo.
“The NCAA’s mission is to provide a world-class athletics and academic experience for student-athletes that fosters lifelong well-being,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker. “These record graduation rates illustrate the tremendous academic accomplishments of NCAA student-athletes and further emphasize the importance of the national office working with members to create outstanding educational experiences and opportunities for these remarkable young men and women.”
Figures released reflect graduation numbers among student-athletes who entered college in 2016. The NCAA has tracked GSR for more than two decades, and student-athletes have surpassed the original benchmark goal of 80%, with long-term graduation rate increases being observed year after year from an overall 74% in 2002 to this year’s record 91%.
Among individual conferences and institutions in women’s water polo,16 institutions recorded perfect 100 graduation rates as Long Beach State University and the University of California-San Diego of the Big West Conference; Brown University, Bucknell University, Harvard University, Princeton University and Saint Francis University of the Collegiate Water Polo Association; California State University-Fresno, Loyola Marymount University, University of the Pacific and Santa Clara University of the Golden Coast Conference; Villanova University, the Virginia Military Institute and Wagner College of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC); and Arizona State University and the University of Southern California of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) earned the highest marks.
Among CWPA institutions, the University of Michigan (93%) finished with the 19th best percentage as the league averaged a 98.83 score – the highest for any women’s water polo conference since the GSR was first posted – with the the Golden Coast Conference (96.17), Big West Conference (91.14), MPSF (90.82) and MAAC (89.25) following behind in order.
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Open in new tab Division II
The NCAA also released the latest Division II graduation rate data, including the division’s Academic Success Rate.
The national four-cohort ASR average remained at 76%, according to the most recent data. Overall Division II student-athlete graduation rates and many subgroup rates are at or near their highest levels.
The NCAA developed the Division II ASR at the request of college and university presidents who believed the federal graduation rate was outdated. Division II’s ASR data includes student-athletes who transfer into a school and removes student-athletes who left the school in good academic standing. In addition, given the partial-scholarship financial aid model of Division II, the ASR data includes student-athletes not on athletically related financial aid. The result is that ASR captures more than 30,000 nonscholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.
Women’s water posted a score of 91% in the ASR to equal golf (91%), surpass soccer (89%), softball (89%), rowing (88%), cross-country/track (86%), basketball (84%), bowling (82%) and trail field hockey (95%), ice hockey (95%), lacrosse (92%), swimming (92%) and tennis (92%).
Division III
In Division III, 2023 reporting cycle was the fourth year Academic Success Rate data submission was required for all Division III schools.
The national four-cohort average ASR for Division III remained at 88%, according to the most recent ASR data, with the women’s rate staying at 94% and the men’s rate holding firm at 84%.
Like Division I’s Graduation Success Rate and Division II’s ASR, Division III’s ASR includes transfers in the calculation and accounts for students who left school while academically eligible. Division III is now in its 14th year of collecting student-athlete graduation rates.
Among sports, women’s water polo holds a 97% ASR to top crew/rowing (96%), field hockey (95%), lacrosse (95%), swimming (95%), cross-country/track (94%), golf (94%), gymnastics (94%), tennis (94%), ice hockey (93%), soccer (93%), softball (93%), volleyball (92%) and basketball (91%). Skiing (98%) is the lone sport to exceed water polo’s 97% score in women’s athletics.
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