UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 38, Page 3
August 6, 1992
Delaware above national average in NCAA study
University of Delaware athletes exceed the overall national
average for graduation rates, according to statistics recently
released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
According to Delaware's Athletic Director Edgar N. Johnson,
statistics also indicate that, in the majority of varsity sports,
student-athletes at the University graduate at a rate higher than the
campus' student population as a whole.
The NCAA study of member institutions across the country found
that national graduation rates are virtually the same when comparing
athletes who receive some form of scholarship support with members of
the general student population.
President David P. Roselle said these figures reflect well on
Delaware, which has fostered a tradition of promoting success in the
classroom as well as on the playing field. "Prospective and current
student-athletes and their parents will be reassured by that success,
and alumni can continue to take pride in their alma mater in this
tradition," he said.
For its study, the NCAA focused on the academic years of l983-84
and l984-85, looking in particular at freshman athletes who received
grant-in-aid (scholarship support) when they entered college. It then
compared those figures with the number of students who went on to
graduate within a six-year period.
The University of Delaware statistics from 1983-84 and l984-85
compare well with the overall national figures released by the NCAA,
Johnson said. For example:
* Percent of athletes receiving scholarship support who
graduated-Delaware, 58; national, 51.
* Percent of the general student population who
graduated-Delaware, 68; national, 52.
* Percent of female athletes who graduated-Delaware, 100;
national, 61.
* Percent of general female population who graduated-Delaware,
70; national, 54.
* Percent of black male basketball players who
graduated-Delaware, 75; national, 29.
* Percent of white male basketball players who
graduated-Delaware, 100; national, 55.
* Percent of black male scholarship athletes who
graduated-Delaware, 35; national, 33.
* Percent of black male general student population who
graduated-Delaware, 43; national, 31.
* Percent of black female athletes who graduated-Delaware, 100;
national, 43.
* Percent of black female general student population who
graduated-Delaware, 50; national, 34.
* Percent of white student-athletes who graduated-Delaware, 66;
national, 58.
* Percent of white general student population who
graduated-Delaware, 69; national, 55.
Dale Trusheim, associate director of the University's Office of
Institutional Research and Planning, said a set of "refined-rate"
figures also was requested and submitted to the NCAA, and these data
in several categories raise the University's graduate rates even
higher.
The refined-rate figures excluded athletes who left the
University in good academic standing, had met the campus definition
for satisfactory progress toward a degree and would have met NCAA
eligibility requirements if they had decided to continue at Delaware,
Trusheim explained.
Using the refined-rate figures, which he said he believes provide
a more accurate picture of Delaware's excellent graduation rate,
Johnson said: "When students look at the University of Delaware with a
70 percent graduation rate, they realize they have almost a
three-in-four chance of earning a degree, compared to the national
average, which is one-in-two."
"The University is well known," Johnson said, "as an institution
that places academics first and does its best to ensure that each
student-athlete will be in a position to graduate by the time his or
her eligibility expires."
According to Johnson, discussing statistics concerning all
recruited student-athletes is different from looking at students
receiving athletic grants-in-aid, the latter being the focus of the
NCAA study.
"University of Delaware graduation rates of student-athletes have
generally been about 7 percent higher than the general student
population," Johnson said.
Before the decision by the NCAA to concentrate its new, long-term
study beginning with the 1983-84 academic year, the University had
recorded its own figures for student-athletes, based on the academic
and graduation records of all students Delaware coaches had recruited
for varsity sports, Johnson said.
"These figures also show the University's graduation rates in a
positive light," he said, "especially when compared with the national
averages and with the University's own high general student body
graduation rates."
According to Johnson, in 1984, the graduation rate of all
Delaware student-athletes was 71.7 percent (general student body, 68.2
percent); in 1983, the graduation rate for student-athletes was 63
percent (general student body, 65.8 percent); in 1982, the
student-athlete graduation rate was 70.8 percent (general student
body, 63.4 percent); and in 1981, student-athletes graduated at a rate
of 69.1 percent (general student body, 60.9 percent).
"I think the positive and ongoing interaction between the
coaching staff and our student-athletes has a lot to do with these
excellent rates," Johnson said. "The higher graduation rates show that
our coaches are deeply involved in the success of our students. As has
long been the case at Delaware, all of us realize that athletics is
just an extension of the academic mission at this institution."
Johnson also praised the special offerings for student-athletes
through the Student Services for Athletes Program, operated by the
University's Center for Counseling and Student Development. Now in its
fourth year, the program provides services in tutoring, counseling,
stress management and study skills for men and women involved in Blue
Hen varsity sports.
In the initial years looked at in the NCAA study, Johnson
explained, the number of freshman students receiving grant-in-aid
assistance at Delaware was small, only 32 in 1983-84 and 28 in
1984-85, for a total of 60 students.
The numbers have risen as more sports have been added to the
athletic scholarships program at the University. This fall, for
example, scholarships will be offered for the first time in several
sports, including men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's
soccer, softball and women's volleyball. Scholarships already are
offered in football, men's and women's basketball, field hockey and
baseball.
More than 600 students annually participate in the Delaware
athletic program. Only about 115, or one-sixth, receive athletic
grant-in-aid funds, Johnson said. But the way the NCAA study is
structured, the annual statistics will deal with only a portion of
them.
Next year's NCAA study will focus on the members of the
graduating class, Johnson said. This will involve only about one
fourth of the approximately 115 student athletes who will receive
athletic grant-in-aid funds during the 1992-93 academic year.
-Ed Okonowicz