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Pepperdine Athletics Ranks High in NCAA Graduation Success Rate Report

The NCAA has once again ranked Pepperdine Athletics high among its peers in their latest Graduate Success Rate figures released October 25. Among Division I schools, the Waves’ overall mark of 94 percent was the best in Southern California, second among all 24 California schools, and second among West Coast Conference programs. 

In addition, 13 of the Waves' 14 programs had averages equal to or better than the national rate for their sports. Nine of them—men's and women's cross country/track, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's volleyball—earned perfect scores of 100 percent.

"These figures are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, coaches and administration," says Jim Hamad, associate director of athletics for Student Development. "A main purpose of any successful athletics department is to graduate students, and it's inspiring that Pepperdine accomplishes this goal at such a high level. We expect this success to continue because of our exceptional student-athletes and the strong vision of the athletics department."

The newest GSR data covers student-athletes that enrolled between 2002 and 2005. 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 for the last four graduating classes of all Division I student-athletes remained at 80 percent, which is still an all-time high for the NCAA. Pepperdine's overall figure of 94 percent was up from last year's 91 percent.

For more information, visit the NCAA website or the Pepperdine Athletics website.