Texas Tech announced on Wednesday that its athletic department finished the 2016-17 year with an 82 percent graduation success rate.
That’s the highest ever for TTU based on information released by the NCAA.
“This is the ninth-consecutive year where Texas Tech has maintained its score or improved from the year prior,” Texas Tech said in a written statement.
“We’re proud of the success our student-athletes have made in the classroom,” Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said.
The following is a full statement from Texas Tech:
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech Athletics registered its highest Graduation Success Rate in school history during the 2016-17 academic year according to data released Wednesday by the NCAA.
Texas Tech concluded the 2016-17 year with an 82 percent Graduation Success Rate among student-athletes, topping its previous high mark from a year before by a percentage point. This is the ninth-consecutive year where Texas Tech has maintained its score or improved from the year prior.
“We’re proud of the success our student-athletes have made in the classroom,” Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said. “Our goal is to always give our student-athletes the tools to thrive on the playing field as well as the classroom. There are few better moments than when we see our student-athletes earn their degrees.”
Texas Tech had nine programs either improve or maintain their GSR score from the previous year, led by men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s tennis and volleyball who were all at 100 percent. Baseball, men’s track and field, soccer and softball, meanwhile, all held steady or improved their GSR scores.
Eight of Texas Tech’s 13 athletic programs (cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field are combined) had GSR rates that ranked among the top three in the Big 12 for their respective sports. In addition, those same eight programs all have GSR rates that are equal or higher than the national average for each sport.
This is the 16th year where GSR data has been collected as it was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately measure the success of Division I student-athletes. The NCAA began gathering GSR data with the freshman class of 1995 and its latest release represents freshmen who enrolled in 2010.
The GSR takes into account the many different academic paths followed by today’s college students. Unlike the federal graduation rate, the GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students. It also accounts for mid-year enrollees and is calculated for every sport.
By counting incoming transfer students and mid-year enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by approximately 37 percent. Under the GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing.
Texas Tech student-athletes have a dedicated staff at the Marsha Sharp Center for Student-Athletes who guide each student-athlete to success from the time of enrollment to graduation. The Marsha Sharp Center for Student-Athletes provides space for private study, computer labs, supplemental instruction classrooms and a private conferencing area for tutoring and mentoring appointments.
