Cal Sets GSR Mark For Fifth Consecutive Year

BERKELEY – Cal has posted a record-high Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for the fifth consecutive year with the score rising to 89 percent in the latest data released by the NCAA on Thursday. Overall, seven teams achieved 100 percent, and 13 programs finished at or above the 90-percent mark.
 
Men's basketball reached a 100 percent GSR for the first time, while the football program rose to an all-time best of 84 percent. Basketball is up a full 60 percent over the past four years with football setting a program high for the third consecutive year.
 
Cal's overall rate of 89% is two percent higher than last year and up 10 percent over the past six years.
 
The seven programs with perfect graduation rates are:

• Men's basketball (1st time ever)
• Women's golf (3rd year in a row and 8th time ever)
• Women's gymnastics (5th year in a row and 10th time ever)
• Softball (2nd year in a row)
• Men's tennis (6th year in a row)
• Women's tennis (9th year in a row and 10th time ever)
• Volleyball (10th year in a row and 13th time ever)

In addition, women's soccer had an all-time high of 96 percent, with the following programs also at 90 percent or above: field hockey, lacrosse, women's rowing, men's swimming & diving, and women's swimming & diving.
 
"I am thrilled to see our student-athletes thrive in the classroom and earn the highest graduation rates in our history," Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. "This is only possible through their dedication and commitment to their academic pursuits at the world's No. 1 public university. At Cal, we strive to support the total developmental experience of all of our student-athletes, and such results are not possible without a full team behind them, including our coaches, our staff and our university. We will continue to do everything we can to put our student-athletes in position to succeed in the classroom, on the fields and in life after Cal."
 
The GSR is based on a six-year cohort, meaning that the latest report includes those student-athletes who received athletic scholarships, enrolled at Cal as freshmen or incoming transfers from 2011-14, and completed their degree within six years.