MACOMB, Ill. - According to the latest federal Graduation Success Rate (GSR) released by the NCAA, Western Illinois Athletics had 10 programs graduate more than 77 percent of their student-athletes. The announcement came from the NCAA office on Tuesday (Oct. 25).

The entire Athletics Department posted a 77 percent graduation rate. The latest rate is based off the cohort year 2001-04.

Leatherneck volleyball has now posted consecutive years with a 100 percent rate, leading not only the Athletics Department but all Summit League volleyball programs as well.

Baseball (78), men's soccer (87), men's swimming (78), men's track (85), women's basketball (90), softball (88), women's soccer (83), women's swimming (90) and women's track and field (90) joined volleyball as surpassing the overall department GSR.

For the fifth consecutive semester (Spring 2011), Leatherneck Athletics exceeded the 3.0 GPA mark, recording a cumulative 3.046 among nearly 400 student-athletes. In Spring 2011, 55 percent of student-athletes recorded a 3.0 GPA, 87 athletes earned University Honors with a 3.60 GPA, and 29 finished with a perfect 4.0.

"Our success in the classroom represents the type of student-athlete our coaches are recruiting and the academic support they receive from our staff once they arrive on campus. I challenged all our coaching staffs to go recruit the type of student-athlete that can be successful in the playing arena and in the classroom," said Director of Athletics Dr. Tim Van Alstine. "These percentages and grade point averages are a combined effort from all involved. I am extremely proud of our student-athletes' dedication in the classroom. As the NCAA increases its academic expectations, so will our efforts in recruiting student-athletes and supporting their work in the classroom to surpass the new NCAA benchmark numbers."

About the GSR
The NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport.

Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing.  The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution's GSR cohort.

By counting incoming transfer students and midyear enrollees, the GSR increases the total number of student-athletes tracked for graduation by 37 percent. 

The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2001-2002 through 2004-05. Nearly 105,000 student-athletes are included in the most recent four classes using the GSR methodology, as compared to about 76,500 in the federal rate. 

The NCAA began compiling these figures with the entering freshmen class of 1995.