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Waves Student-Athletes Top NCAA Graduation Success Rate Data

Pepperdine University continues to do an outstanding job of graduating its student-athletes, according to Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data released by the NCAA on October 25. Thirteen of the Waves’ 14 programs had averages better than the national rate for their sports and seven teams received perfect scores. The newest GSR data covers Division I student-athletes that enrolled between 2001-04.

Overall, Pepperdine's GSR was 91 percent, a figure that ranked best among all Division I schools in Southern California and also puts the Waves in the top half of the West Coast Conference.

"Success for student-athletes is ultimately measured by how well they do in the classroom," says NCAA President Mark Emmert. "There is room for greater progress, and we continue to work hard to that end, but today we celebrate this important milestone."

Pepperdine's programs that had a 100 percent success rate for their student-athletes in the time frame were men's cross country, men's tennis, men's volleyball, women's cross country/track, women's golf, women's soccer, and women's tennis. Teams with marks above 90 percent were women's basketball, women's swimming and diving and women's volleyball.

The NCAA began compiling these figures with the entering freshmen class of 1995 and developed the GSR in order to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The GSR includes transfer students and student-athletes who leave in good academic standing. The GSR measures graduation over six years from initial college enrollment.

Nationally, the GSR reached 80 percent for all student-athletes, a new high for Division I and one point higher than the last four-year average.

For more information, visit the Pepperdine Athletics Web site.