Canisius Student-Athletes Shine in Latest GSR Report

The Canisius athletic department posted a 97 percent Graduation Success Rate in the latest data released by the NCAA on Wednesday.

Canisius' 97 percent GSR, representing incoming student-athletes from 2014-15 through 2017-18, is one percentage point lower than the school-record 98 percent GSR that was established last year. Wednesday's report represents the fifth consecutive year that the University's athletic department has recorded a graduation success rate that was 97 percent or higher.

The data also showed that 15 of Canisius' 16 varsity programs posted a GSR score of 90 or higher while a total of 11 programs recorded perfect 100 percent graduation rates: men's cross country/track, golf, hockey, men's soccer, women's basketball, women's cross country/track, rowing, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving and volleyball.

The Graduation Success Rate measures graduation rates for student-athletes by team. The GSR considers student-athletes who are on scholarship their first year and who graduate from their respective universities or leave their programs, via transfer to other universities or for professional opportunities, while in good academic standing. A complete and searchable Graduation Rates Report is available online at NCAA.org.

"The pursuit of academic excellence is a critically important element of the Canisius student-athlete experience," Canisius Vice President and Director of Athletics Bill Maher said. "This report once again proves that our student-athletes are committed to reaching their full potential, both in competition and in the classroom. Their dedication, along with the hard work of the support system that exists within our campus community, provides an environment where our student-athletes can thrive and achieve great things."

GSR measures the success of an athletics department in graduating its student-athletes within a six-year period. Unlike Federal Graduation Rate, which assesses only first-time, full-time freshmen, GSR also includes transfer students and mid-year enrollees in the sample. Student-athletes who leave an institution while in good academic standing before exhausting athletics eligibility are removed from the cohort of their initial institution (essentially passed to another squad's GSR cohort if they transfer and removed altogether in the case of early departures for professional careers). The GSR provides a more detailed look at actual student-athlete success by considering the full variety of participants in Division I athletics and tracking their academic outcomes.

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