Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

NIU Athletics Posts Graduation Success Rate of 88 Percent

Huskies’ Mark is Second Highest in School History

Graduation Sash

General | December 7

DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University student-athletes are still graduating at near record rates as 88 percent of student-athletes who entered NIU as freshmen in 2016-17 earned their degrees according to the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) Report released Wednesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). GSR is the academic assessment tool used by the NCAA to measure a school's ability to graduate student-athletes.
 
NIU's overall GSR of 88 percent for the 2016 cohort is just one percentage point behind the Huskies' all-time record of 89 percent, set in 2013-14 for the 2007 cohort, and is tied with the 88 percent mark earned in 2019 and again in 2021. The Huskies' GSR has been at 85 percent or above for the last 11 years.
 
"The GSR is an important metric because it measures one of the most important things that we do – graduate student-athletes," said NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier. "These statistics show that NIU continues to prioritize academic as well as athletic excellence. We are extremely proud of the Huskie student-athletes, supported by our coaches, the staff in SAASS and throughout campus, who have earned their degrees."
 
Six NIU programs achieved a perfect GSR of 100 percent, with women's gymnastics earning the mark for the 16th consecutive year. The Huskie women's soccer and volleyball programs were both at 100 percent for the 10th straight year, women's basketball for the sixth time in a row, with men's golf and men's tennis extending their string of perfect graduation success rates to five years. That means all of the student-athletes who entered NIU in those programs graduated within six years.
 
Other highlights of the 2023 report included:
  • The 93 percent GSR by cross country/women's track & field was its highest in eight years.
  • Baseball recorded its second highest GSR in school history at 91 percent.
  • Men's soccer's GSR of 89 percent was its best in seven years.
Overall, nine teams posted a Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent or higher and 11 programs had a GSR that ranked above the national average. NIU's women student-athletes combined to graduate at a 96 percent success rate.
 
The 2023 Graduation Rates Report gives graduation information about the most recent six year graduating class of students and student-athletes who entered as freshmen in 2016-17.  The graduation rate (percent) is based on a comparison of the number (N) of students who entered a college or university and the number of those who graduated within six years.  The NCAA has compiled and released the Graduation Success Rate for the past 19 years. A complete searchable database of Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and Federal Graduation Rates (FGR) is available online at NCAA.org.
 
-- NIU --
 
Twitter: @NIUAthletics
Facebook: NIU Huskies
Instagram: niuhuskies
YouTube: NIU Athletics
 
 
Print Friendly Version