Record five teams earn a perfect 100 percent GSR
TAMPA, DEC. 9, 2021 – With 40 more student-athletes slated to graduate this weekend, USF Athletics also is celebrating an 85 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the latest data released for all Division I institutions by the NCAA, marking the Bulls’ second-highest mark ever and eighth-straight year at 82 percent or better.
The 85 percent Graduation Success Rate encompasses USF scholarship student-athletes that entered school from 2011-14 and graduated within a six-year period. The score, just shy of the Bulls’ program-record of 86 percent posted in 2016, was fueled by a record five programs that posted a perfect 100 percent GSR.
“Creating champions in the classroom, community and competition is our goal and I am very excited by our student-athletes continued excellence in academics,” USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “It takes a total commitment from our coaches, administration and outstanding Academic Services staff, but most of all it is a reflection of the outstanding student-athletes that come to USF and perform on and off the field.”
The Bulls have posted a better than 84 percent GSR for four-straight years, twice hitting the 85 percent mark in that time frame.
Among the five programs that posted a perfect 100 percent GSR was the women’s soccer program led by head coach Denise Schilte-Brown, which posted a program record GSR on the heels of winning conference championships in each of the last five seasons.
Head coach Ken Eriksen’s softball program posted a 100 percent GSR score for the 10th straight time and 12th time in the 17 years of GSR reporting. The women’s tennis program, under head coach Cristina Moros, had a perfect GSR score for the eighth straight time and 11th time in program history.
The women’s golf program, under head coach Erika Brennan, logged a 100 percent GSR for the sixth straight season and USF Athletics record 13th time in program history. The men’s tennis program, under head coach Ashley Fisher, posted a 100 percent GSR score for the fourth straight year, which marked the eighth straight year the program’s GSR score rose or held steady at 100.
Ten of 14 USF sports programs in the NCAA report posted an 80 percent or better GSR with all women’s teams logging an 80 percent or better score and five at 93 percent or better.
Other highlights from the latest GSR report included the football program posting a 79 percent mark, the second-highest in program history and highest in six seasons. The defending AAC champion women’s basketball team logged a 93 percent score, its highest in seven seasons. The AAC conference champion baseball team posted an 83 percent score, bettering 81 percent for the third straight year and marking the best three-year run in program history and highest scores in 12 years. The men’s basketball program saw its GSR leap to 73 percent, a jump of 17 percent and its highest mark in seven years
USF has graduated nearly 500 student-athletes since 2016-17 and has posted an overall annual department grade-point average in excess of 3.0 for a program-record six straight years and 13 straight semesters.
The Graduation Success Rate includes data about the most recent six-year graduating class of student-athletes receiving athletics aid and entering college as freshmen in 2014-15. The GSR is designed to show the proportion of student-athletes graduating within in a six-year window, accounting for transferring student-athletes coming into the institution and student-athletes leaving the institution in good standing.
The most recent data is based on the percentage of student-athletes who entered college in 2011-14 and earned a degree. The NCAA developed the Division I Graduation Success Rate in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today.
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and completed its 55th season in 2020-21. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 26 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including six trophies in 2020-21, and own 130 conference titles in department history. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the sixth straight year in 2020-21 and have posted a program-record 13 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 450 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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