Duke leads area schools in Graduation Success Rate

The Duke men’s basketball program posted a perfect score in the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate scores, which the NCAA released earlier this week, and overall Duke led area ACC schools in GSR.

The Duke men’s basketball team posted a GSR of 100 percent. Its football team posted a score of 94 percent, and was one of four FBS schools to post a score of 93 percent or better in football.

The GSR is an NCAA-created metric that gives athletes six years from the time they enter school to graduate. GSR scores do not reflect the quality of an athlete’s educational experience, and do not include athletes who left an institution in good academic standing. The figures released Wednesday reflect athletes who entered college between 2005 and 2008.

At North Carolina, its men’s basketball program posted a GSR of 80 percent, which is seventh in the ACC. Its football program posted a 62 percent GSR, which was the lowest in the ACC.

At N.C. State, its men’s basketball program posted a GSR of 78 percent, which is eighth in the ACC. Its football program posted a 70 percent GSR, which was 12th in the ACC.

The national average for GSR in men’s basketball is 77 percent. For football players at FBS schools, the national average for GSR is 75 percent.

Federal Graduation Rate scores were also released Wednesday. Those scores are considerably lower because they do include athletes who leave in good standing.

The FGR for Duke’s men’s basketball team, for instance, is 56 percent, compared to the 100 percent score in the GSR. The UNC football team’s FGR is 50 percent. The GSR for all three men’s basketball programs at Duke, UNC and N.C. State are in the 50s.

The NCAA argues that the GSR is a better measure, but the FGR is the measurement that most accurately reflects whether a freshman athlete who enters a given school graduates from that school within the next six years.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Duke leads area schools in Graduation Success Rate."