Most Recent NCAA Submission Highlights

March 2021 submission for to the 2014 cohort
  • 53% of 17 football players
  • 80% of 5 basketball players (men and women combined)
  • 70% of all 56 student-athletes entering in 2014 in all sports combined
  • 72% of all full-time 5,802 first-time freshmen entering in 2014 graduated in six years

Beginning with the 2019-20 academic year, a portion of Division I revenue will be distributed to member schools based on the academic achievement of student-athletes.  An institution must meet one of three criteria, one of which is the GSR for the most recently available year is equal to or greater than 90%. Unfortunately, CU Boulder’s GSR for the 2014 cohort was 84%.  GSR traditionally is calculated as a four-class average and this also comes in at 90%.

Excel summary of graduation rates for all sports and all entering freshman from 1991 to the most recently reported cohort year. 

Detailed information of graduation rates for entering freshman by sport group, gender and ethnicity.

Upcoming Submission Release

Data/information from the April 2022 submission (2015 cohort) will not be made available until October 2022 due to the NCAA asking institutions to wait until they publically release the data first.
 

  • Student-athletes are separated into four sport groups:  football, basketball, track/cross country and all other reportable sports (at CU Boulder these sports are golf, soccer, skiing, tennis and volleyball).
  • Student-athlete data is restricted to those students who received athletic aid in their first term enrolled at CU Boulder).
  • Each April, the Office of Data Analytics submits data for the IPEDS Graduation Rates Survey of the US Department of Education.  The population of students in this dataset is full-time (12+ hours counted at the end of the fall term) first-time freshman who entered in the summer or fall cohort year.  The cohort year is six years prior to the previous summer term of when the report is submitted (i.e. in 2007, with the previous summer term being in 2006, the cohort year is 2000).  This gives students a full six years (or 150% of "normal time") to complete their degree.
  • Timeline of reporting student-athlete graduation rate data
    • Prior to 2004, we submitted all data to IPEDS and the NCAA obtained the information from IPEDS.
    • From 2004 to 2007 we submitted reports to both IPEDS and the NCAA.
    • From 2008 to 2009 we posted all-freshman counts to the IPEDS collection site in April, and student-athlete counts to the NCAA data collection site only, in May.  The NCAA then calculates the graduation rates.
    • Beginning in 2010, the NCAA requested submission of outcomes for student-athletes by individual.  The NCAA then used these records to calculate graduation rates.  IPEDS submission remain unchanged.
  • Additionally, the NCAA asks for completion data on student-athletes who entered either as a spring freshman or as a transfer student. Please e-mail us if you would like to inquire about viewing these data.

The NCAA produces two summary reports upon submission of the student athlete data.

  • NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) Report.  By gender and sport.  Shows two rates for the four-year combined cohort. The "federal" rate is the standard six-year graduation rate for new first-time freshmen athletes. The GSR includes student-athletes transferring in and those entering in spring, and allows institutions to subtract (from the denominator) student-athletes who leave the institution prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained. 
  • NCAA Institutional report.  Shows summary tables (most recent cohort and four-year combined cohort)    for all freshman, all student athletes plus by sport group results.