#30

Title: NCAA Graduation Success Rate Data Collection

Note: This topic only pertains to institutions that have NCAA Division I sports.

Summary

In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) instituted the Graduate Success Rate (GSR) data collection to be submitted via the NCAA's Web site by August 1, 2005. Based primarily on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Graduation Rate Survey (GRS), the GSR also requires information on transfers in and out of the institution and on freshmen athletes who start in mid-year (January). The rate also differs from the IPEDS rate in that it accounts for student-athletes who transfer into an institution and removes from the denominator those who withdraw from the institution and would have been academically eligible to compete had they returned. Another difference is that the student athletes must be reported separately by each sport; in other words, the "all other sports" category is no longer used. This year institutions must supply data for the 1998 cohort plus three prior cohorts (1995-97). Failure to provide data by the August 1 due date will render the institution ineligible to compete in NCAA championships and other post-season competition (e.g., bowl games) in 2005-06.

Current Status

A letter was sent to the chief executive officer of all NCAA Division I member institutions in early May, 2005 informing them of the GSR. The GSR consists of four sections: enrollment counts of the entire student body and of prior-year athletes by sport and institutional graduation rate (both of which are also reported on IPEDS), graduation rates for athletes who exhausted eligibility (required on prior-year NCAA supplemental surveys), and graduation rates by each individual sport (a change from both the IPEDS requirement and prior-year NCAA requirements).

Graduation rates by sport are requested for five possible cohorts: first-time full-time freshmen who entered in the fall of the cohort year (the usual IPEDS cohort), first-time full-time freshmen who entered in spring of the cohort year (a new cohort), incoming transfers from two-year institutions who entered with enough credits to be part of the specified cohort (reported on prior-year NCAA supplemental surveys), incoming transfers from four-year institutions who entered with enough credits to be part of the specified cohort (reported on prior-year NCAA supplemental surveys), and non-scholarship student athletes (to be reported by institutions that do not offer athletics aid to student athletes but recruit student-athletes.)

For each of the five cohorts applicable to the institution, the following data are requested:

• Enrolled: full-time first-time students seeking a bachelor's or equivalent degree.



• Graduated: Of those enrolled students, the number of completers of bachelor's or equivalent degree with 150% time. (For first-time full-time students entering mid-year, using the August 31 cut-off date is around 140% of time).



• Exclusions: Of those enrolled students who didn't complete, report the number who died or are totally and permanently disabled, who joined the armed forces, Peace Corps, or who are serving on an official church missions.



• Eligible to compete: Of those enrolled students who didn't complete but left with athletics eligibility remaining, report the number who would have been academically eligible to compete the next regular academic term had they returned.

Implications for Institutions

In the past, Division I institutions have reported graduation rates data in two separate formats, via the IPEDS GRS form and the NCAA Division I Graduation Supplement Form. The NCAA received GRS data files directly from the federal government in order to create institution-level reports as required under the Student Right-to-Know (SRTK) Act. The federal government is no longer able to provide the NCAA with the raw-data files to create these reports. Therefore, the required data will have to be reported to both the Department of Education and to the NCAA.

The NCAA Division I legislation stipulates that all member institutions must provide the information contained in the federal GRS form to the NCAA. Additionally, all Division I members are required to provide supplemental information that will allow the NCAA to calculate the GSR. It is also important to note that the NCAA legislation requires the collection of data on four different cohorts of individuals (entering freshmen in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998) in the first year of the program. After this year, data will be updated for single cohorts each year. The penalty for not providing data by the due date of August 1 will be to render your institution ineligible to compete in NCAA championships and other postseason competition (e.g., bowl games) conducted for the 2005-06 year.

Member institutions report these data on a NCAA-developed Web site that can be found at: - http://web1.ncaa.org/GradRates/exec/page_one

The Web site will close August 1 when the data are due. This Web site requires a username and password which is the same as the ones used for membership services information and revenue distribution. The Director of Athletics can probably provide the username and password. The web site provides both directions and the required forms.

Authors
Timothy Walsh and Peggye Cohen

Coordinated by the Higher Education Data Policy Committee. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Association for Institutional Research.