A recent NCAA report found that Division I college athletes have a higher graduation rate than non-athletes, but although this trend is not true for AU athletics, changes have been made to increase AU's student athlete graduation rates.
Based on the NCAA Graduation Success Rate from the class of 1999-2000, AU's student athletes had a lower graduation rate than non-athletes, with athletes graduating at 56 percent compared to non-athletes at 71 percent. The NCAA's national GSR was 77 percent, up from 76 percent from the previous class and higher than AU's graduation rate, according to the NCAA Web site.
Rob Acunto, associate director of AU Athletics, said that back in 1999 and 2000 when the statistics were taken for the NCAA rates, AU was a much different university than it is today. AU was not as strong academically and was still in the Colonial Athletic League. The data from 1999-2000 "shows a much different student athlete than we have now," he said.
AU showed dramatic increases as it entered into the Patriot League in 2001 and formed a new coaching staff, Acunto said.
"AU is a stronger academic university than we've ever been," he said. "Our student athletes are reflections of that now."
The NCAA data won't reflect these changes at AU for another six or seven years, as the data is collected over a six-year period, he said.
The university is taking several actions to improve student athlete graduation rates, Acunto said. The university is increasing admissions standards and the coaching staff and athletic administration want student athletes to get strong academics first and get athletic experience second, he said.
The latest federal measurements showed that athletes from the freshman class of 1999-2000 had national graduation rates of 63 percent, compared to non-athletes at 61 percent. Nationally, athletes also had a 1 percent increase overall from last year's graduation rates. The report was based on federal graduation rates accumulated over a six-year period for each incoming freshman class, according to the NCAA Web site.
The reason for the discrepancy between the NCAA's GSR and the federal rate is that the federal rate does not include transfer students, and the NCAA rate only includes student athletes with scholarships, according to CNN.com.
Catherine Hummel, a member of AU's track team and a sophomore in the School of Public of Affairs, said college sports require a great deal of discipline and motivation.
"The way you act in your sport is a reflection of how you act in the classroom," Hummel said. "It's more of a schedule; we have to have some kind of time management. If you don't perform well in the classroom, you can't be on the team."
Kira Sonberg, a member of the AU women's lacrosse team and a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said student athletes' higher graduation rates negate the "dumb athlete" stereotype.
"It doesn't surprise me that athletes have a higher graduation rate," Sonberg said. "They're working just as hard as everybody else is, so they desire to do just as well as any other student."
The NCAA data also revealed that female athletes had higher graduation rates, at 71 percent, compared to their male counterparts at 56 percent. This trend is true for AU as well, where females led with 71 percent compared to males' 68 percent four-year class average graduation rate, according to the NCAA Web site.
Acunto said AU Athletics require students to maintain a 2.0 minimum GPA to participate, which is in line with university policy.
