Oct. 24, 2013

Twenty-one of the University of Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s athletic programs posted Graduation Success Rate numbers that ranked them best in the nation within their sports (including 20 perfect 100 scores)–and 10 produced federal graduation rates that led all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) institutions (including nine perfect 100 scores), according to Notre Dame’s institutional research based on 2013 graduation-rate figures released last week by the NCAA.

All statistics are based on the combined entering classes from 2003 through 2006.

GSR statistics for Irish women’s sports featured all 11 perfect 100 scores–in basketball, cross country/track, crew/rowing, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.

GSR statistics for Irish men’s sports featured nine perfect 100 scores–in baseball, basketball, cross country/track, fencing, golf, hockey, soccer, swimming and tennis–plus 96 in lacrosse that ranked number one and 93 in football that ranked number four. All 11 Irish women’s programs had GSR rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset of schools. Ten Irish men’s programs had GSR rates ranking them first within their sports:

— Women’s basketball at 100 tied for first with 33 other schools.
— Women’s cross country/track and field at 100 tied for first with 11 other schools.
— Women’s crew/rowing at 100 tied for first with 10 other schools.
— Women’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Duke, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State and Stanford.
— Women’s golf at 100 tied for first with 51 other schools.
— Women’s lacrosse at 100 tied for first with 11 other schools.
— Women’s soccer at 100 tied for first with 23 other schools.
— Women’s softball at 100 tied for first with 24 other schools.
— Women’s swimming at 100 tied for first with 18 other schools.
— Women’s tennis at 100 finished tied for first with 68 other schools.
— Women’s volleyball at 100 ranked tied for first with 43 other schools.
— Baseball at 100 tied for first with Duke, Memphis, Miami (Fla.) and Stanford.
— Men’s basketball at 100 tied for first with 10 other schools.
— Men’s cross country/track and field at 100 tied for first – with Duke, Memphis, Michigan, New Mexico State, Stanford, Tulane, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
— Men’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Ohio State and Stanford.
— Men’s golf at 100 tied for first with 32 other schools.
— Men’s hockey at 100 ranked first (tied with Bowling Green, Michigan, U.S. Air Force Academy).
— Men’s soccer at 100 tied for first with Duke and Northwestern.
— Men’s swimming at 100 tied for first with eight other schools.
— Men’s tennis at 100 tied for first with 31 other schools.
— Men’s lacrosse at 96 finished first (tied with the U.S. Naval Academy).
— Football at 93 finished fourth (behind Northwestern at 97, Rice at 96 and Boston College at 94).

Five Irish women’s programs had perfect 100 federal rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset, while one program finished tied for second. Five Irish men’s programs had federal rates ranking them first within their sports (four with perfect 100 scores) among the NCAA FBS subset, while one program finished second, one in third and one finished in fourth place.

The federal figures showed that–among Notre Dame’s women’s sports– crew/rowing, golf, lacrosse, tennis and volleyball achieved 100 percent scores. Women’s cross country/track and women’s soccer scored 94 and women’s swimming 93 among other Irish raw federal scores. Among Notre Dame’s men’s sports–fencing, golf, hockey and tennis achieved 100 percent federal scores. Swimming scored 95, cross country/track 94 and lacrosse 93 (ranking first) among other Irish men’s raw federal scores:

— Women’s crew/rowing at 100 finished first (tied with Syracuse).
— Women’s golf at 100 tied for first with 16 other schools.
— Women’s lacrosse at 100 tied for first with Penn State and Stanford.
— Women’s tennis at 100 tied for first with 22 other schools.
— Women’s volleyball at 100 tied for first with six other schools.
— Men’s fencing at 100 tied for first with Stanford.
— Men’s golf at 100 ranked tied for first with 11 other schools.
— Men’s hockey at 100 ranked first–followed by Miami (Ohio) at 74.
— Men’s lacrosse finished first at 93- followed by Duke (91) and Ohio State (88).
— Men’s tennis at 100 tied for first with 12 other schools.
— Men’s basketball at 83 ranked second behind Ohio University (86).
— Women’s cross country/track and field at 94 ranked tied for second (with Ohio State) behind Northwestern (100).
— Men’s soccer at 88 ranked third, behind Duke (100) and Northwestern (89).
— Men’s swimming at 95 stood tied for fourth (with Purdue) behind Miami (Fla.), UNLV and Stanford at 100.
— Women’s soccer at 94 ranked tied for sixth (with Stanford), behind Boston College, Connecticut and Rice (all at 100), Michigan State and Wake Forest (both at 95).
— Men’s cross country/track and field at 94 ranked tied for sixth–with Michigan and Wake Forest–behind Duke, New Mexico State, Stanford, Tulane (all at 100) and Ohio State (95).
— Football at 75 ranked ninth, behind Northwestern (92), Stanford and Rice (89), Boston College (86), Duke (81), TCU (80), Wake Forest (77) and Fresno State (76).
— Women’s swimming at 93 tied for ninth (with Michigan State and Virginia Tech) behind Buffalo, Fresno State, Michigan, Missouri and Stanford (at 100), North Carolina (96) and Rice and Georgia Tech (both at 95).

The federal graduation rate methodology used by the Department of Education counts all student-athletes who transfer from or leave an institution for any reason as non-graduates from their initial school, even if they leave in good academic standing.