Oct. 30, 2007

PITTSBURGH--According to data released today by the NCAA, the University of Pittsburgh achieved a school-record graduation rate of 74% for the entering student-athlete class of 2000-01, the most recent class measured by the NCAA.  Additionally, Pitt's overall student body rate for the entering class of 2000-01 was 73%, also an all-time high. 

"Pitt's graduation rates have been climbing each year, and we are very pleased with the current report," Pitt interim athletic director Donna Sanft said. "Our coaches and our academic support staff continually search for ways to support, encourage and guide all of our students to achieve graduation. As evidenced by these graduation rates and our APR scores, which will be released this spring, the efforts of our staff and student-athletes are resulting in elevated academic performance."

The NCAA also released data that measured the four-year average of Division I institutions for the entering classes of 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01. Pitt student-athletes achieved a four-year average of 65%, which equaled its previous high. The four-year average for all Pitt students over that same period was a record 69%.

Today's NCAA report also released the overall student-athlete graduation success rate (GSR), a four-year average encompassing the incoming classes of 2000-01, 1999-2000, 1998-99 and 1997-98. Pitt boasted a school-record GSR of 79%. The GSR is an adjusted rate that excludes those students who left the university without graduating but were academically eligible. It also includes transfer students and students who enter an institution in mid-year.