USC, UCLA Athletes Graduating At Higher Rate
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — More athletes are graduating from USC and UCLA, according to the latest figures released by the NCAA.
USC's athletes had a school-record 81 percent Graduation Rate, while UCLA's was 86 percent, just one percentage point behind its 2014 high, which reflect the national trend. The Graduation Success Rate for Division I athletes was a record 86 percent, two percentage points higher than last year.
USC's school-record Graduation Success rate stems in part from the improvement by its men's basketball team, whose most recent rate was 82 percent, a jump of 15 percentage points from the previous year. The university's football Graduation Success Rate was 58 percent, but the dismal rate "is a victim of our on-field success back then," USC's Magdi El-Shahawy said.
"Of the 71 players in the 2005 to 2008 football cohort, 41 of them graduated in the six-year GSR window," El-Shahawy said. "Of those who didn't, 22 competed in the NFL.
"Ten left USC within one semester of graduating and four came back to USC after the six-year window to get their degrees. Next year, when the 2005 figure will no longer be part of the calculation, our football GSR will rise significantly."
UCLA's football Graduation Success Rate was 88 percent, second in the conference behind Stanford's 99 percent.
In other sports, five UCLA teams have 100 percent Graduation Success Rates -- women's basketball, golf, softball, tennis and men's water polo -- while five others had at least a 90 percent rate -- women's water polo and track and field (both 93 percent), women's swimming and diving (92 percent), women's rowing (91 percent) and men's volleyball (90 percent).
At USC, the women's basketball and golf teams both had 100 percent Graduation Success Rates. Five others had at least a 90 percent rate -- women's water polo (96 percent), women's soccer (95 percent), women's rowing (94 percent), women's volleyball (91 percent) and baseball (91 percent).
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