Oct. 25, 2011

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -

The University of Alabama’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) score rose to an 82 this year, once again exceeding acceptable standards for completion of undergraduate studies nationally for the period covering student-athletes who attended the University during 2001-04, according to figures released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

"We continue to improve in terms of the Graduation Success Rate, and I believe that is a testament to the hard work of our student-athletes, academic staff and faculty," said Alabama Director of Athletics Mal Moore. "This is also further evidence of the dedication of our student-athletes and the commitment of our coaches, staff and faculty to our academic mission. I commend everyone involved for consistently doing such an excellent job."

Four of Alabama's 20 intercollegiate athletic programs in existence at the time - women's golf, women's soccer, women's softball and women's tennis – once again achieved perfect scores of 100, while 11 of Alabama's programs recorded a GSR score of at least 80. Overall, seven UA teams had a GSR score of 90 or higher. Women's rowing, Alabama’s 21st varsity sport, is not included in this survey as it did not become a scholarship sport at UA until 2006.

The Crimson Tide was third overall in the Southeastern Conference, where Vanderbilt led the way with a 92 and Florida was just a point ahead of Alabama with an 83. The Tide's defending Southeastern Conference Champion softball and women's golf teams both lead the league with perfect GSR scores of 100 again this year. Alabama's soccer and women's tennis teams also led the SEC again this year with perfect 100 GSR scores.

The Tide’s men’s swimming and diving team and women’s track and field and cross country program were both second in the SEC with a score of 93 and 95, respectively. The baseball team was third in the SEC with a score of 77 while the football team was fourth with a 69.

The GSR measures graduation rates at Division I institutions and includes transferring into the institutions. The GSR also allows institutions to subtract student-athletes who leave their institutions prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained.

The NCAA GSR and the Academic Success Rate (ASR) were developed in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflected the mobility among college students today. Both rates improve on the federally mandated graduation rate by including students who were omitted from the federal calculation.

Other Notable Items:
*The Crimson Tide's defending Southeastern Conference Champion softball and women's golf teams both led the league with perfect GSR scores of 100. Alabama's soccer and women's tennis teams also led the SEC with perfect 100 GSR scores.

* The Tide’s men’s swimming and diving team and women’s track and field and cross country program were both second in the SEC with a score of 93 and 95, respectively.

*The baseball team was third in the SEC with a score of 77 while the football team was fourth with a 69.

*The University of Alabama ranks first in the SEC and fifth nationally among Division 1A institutions in ESPN the Magazine's latest rankings of Academic All-America selections since 2000:

Most Academic All-America Selections since 2000 (Division 1A)
Nebraska - 104
Notre Dame - 95
Penn State - 78
Stanford - 66
Alabama - 61

• A University-best eight UA student-athletes earned Capital One Academic All-American honors last season as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), bettering the previous mark of seven set last year.
• The Tide doubled the next closest school in the Southeastern Conference with six first-team honorees while Alabama’s total of eight Academic All-Americans (including first, second and third-team honorees) is tied with South Carolina for the most in the league in 2010-11. The SEC in turn led the nation in both first-team honors (23) and overall (43).
• Two SEC student-athletes earned Capital One Academic All-American of the Year for their respective sports, both hailing from the University of Alabama - Kayla Hoffman, captain of Alabama’s 2011 NCAA Champion gymnastics team, and Greg McElroy, quarterback of the Tide’s 2009 National Champion football team.

*Since the award’s inception prior to the 2009-10 season, Alabama is the only SEC school to have a student-athlete earn the NCAA's Elite 88 award. Four Alabama student-athletes, gymnasts Kassi Price and Rachel Terry, women's golfer Brooke Pancake and cross country runner Nathan Corder have earned the award which is given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average at an NCAA Championship.

*In the NCAA's latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) report, released in May 2011, all 21 University of Alabama varsity athletic teams scored well above the national cutoff standard of 925 and 15 teams posted scores that either matched or were above the national Division I average in their respective sports. The Tide women's golf team, which finished eighth nationally this year, recently received public recognition from the NCAA for its APR score figuring in the top 10 percentile nationally among teams in that sport, with a perfect 1000 APR. The women's golf team was joined by the back-to-back SEC Champion softball team (994), the NCAA and SEC Champion gymnastics team (991) as well as the men's golf team (993) in posting APR scores over 990.

*Alabama student-athletes earned 250 SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades in 2010-11. UA's tally included 94 student-athletes from the spring sports, 45 on the fall list and 37 on the winter list as well as 74 student-athletes on the newcomers honor roll. An SEC-best 16 members of Alabama’s 2011 NCAA Champion gymnastics team earned the honor as well.