NCAA honors Rockhurst for graduation success

Rockhurst University is one of 27 NCAA Division II schools to be recognized as a recipient of the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence honoring athletics programs with four-year Academic Success Rates of 90 percent or more. Rockhurst tied for 14th among Division II schools with a four-year ASR of 92 percent.

The Academic Success Rate measured graduation success for Division II schools from 2003-06. As a result of Division II's unique qualities, the ASR measures the graduation success of virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletics scholarships, which distinguishes it from Division I's Graduation Success Rate. Approximately 56 percent of Division II student-athletes receive some level of athletics aid.

"This year marks the third year for this award and the second time that a school has posted an Academic Success Rate of 100 percent," said Tom Haas, president of Grand Valley State University and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. "We are tremendously proud of Division II schools and the successes of their student-athletes, and we are confident that we will continue to see schools increase their graduation rates."

The Division II Academic Success Rate captures about 60 percent more student-athletes than the federal graduation rate, which does not count incoming transfers, counts outgoing transfers as having not graduated and counts only student-athletes receiving athletics scholarships. The national four-year ASR average is 71 percent.

No matter what measure is used, Division II student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2006 entering class of student-athletes was 54 percent, compared to 48 percent for the general student body.