DRC NT shows increase n grad rates, money for

[OldTimer]

UNT shows increase in graduation rates

08:42 AM CST on Friday, January 20, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The North Texas athletic department graduated 60 percent of its student-athletes in a four-year period ending in the 1998-99 school year, according to the NCAA graduation success ratings that were released on Thursday.

The figure was just one indication of how UNT is improving its performance in graduating its athletes, athletic director Rick Villarreal said.

The GSR figure is based on a new formula that the NCAA believes gives an accurate portrayal of how institutions are faring in terms of graduating their student-athletes. The figures measure what percentage of student-athletes graduate in a six-year period after enrolling while taking into account students who transfer in and out of universities.

Schools are not penalized for athletes who transfer out of a university in good academic standing and are credited for athletes who transfer in and graduate.

Previous NCAA studies didn’t take transfer students into account.

The national GSR average was 76 percent.

Thursday’s report was the first that calculated university’s four-year GSR. While UNT had no previous report to compare its current score to, it did have a previous federal report that did not take into account transfer students.

UNT’s score jumped from 43 to 49 percent in the federal ratings. Student-athletes also posted an 11 percent higher score than the general student body.

UNT athletes had a graduation rate of 67 percent for the 1998-99 school year, which Villarreal said was a dramatic improvement over previous years.

“I am really happy with the way they came out. Our goal is to graduate 100 percent,” Villarreal said. “Academics were a point of emphasis when I came here. We talked about academics, facilities and pride in the school.”

Villarreal credited UNT’s improvement in large part to his academic support staff and said he expects the school’s performance to continue to improve. UNT has opened a new academic center in recent months on a new campus the school bought from Liberty Christian and added money for students who need a fifth year to graduate after exhausting their four years of eligibility.

“Our academic center is going to make a tremendous difference,” Villarreal said. “We have a place that shows that academics are important. We are on a real upswing.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 950-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com

[gksmith]

This is a fine line. I like to see winning football (and basketball for that matter) but I also like to see that the athletes are getting an education too and getting a diploma.