Bears Top Big 12, State of Texas with Record-Setting Graduation Success Rate

WACO, Texas – With a school-record overall score of 94, Baylor led the Big 12 in Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for the seventh-straight year and the 11th time overall according to data released by the NCAA. Baylor leads the state of Texas and is also 10th nationally among Power Five schools.
 
Baylor's score improved by three from the 2018-19 GSR. Iowa State (92) and Kansas State (92) tied for second, followed by Texas (89), TCU (87), Oklahoma (86), Kansas (85), West Virginia (84), Oklahoma State (82) and Texas Tech (80). Baylor, which has finished first or second among Big 12 schools in composite GSR 12 times in the last 14 years, also paced the Big 12 in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

“Graduation has long been a goal for all student-athletes entering Baylor as freshmen, but it is certainly now the expectation,” Assistant AD for Academic Services Chris Johnson said. “The 2019-2020 record-breaking GSR numbers are just a reminder of how talented and purpose-driven our student-athletes truly are. The constant pursuit of academic excellence continues to allow each graduating senior to develop holistically and ultimately put themselves in a position to be champions for life.”
 
Six of Baylor's programs earned a perfect GSR score of 100, including baseball, men’s golf, women’s golf, soccer, women’s tennis and volleyball. It marked the first time in program history that baseball earned a GSR of 100. For men's golf, it is the ninth-straight year they have received a GSR of 100, eighth-straight for women's golf, eighth-straight for women's tennis, fourth-straight for women's soccer and second-straight for volleyball.
 
Football (91), baseball (100), men’s XC/track and field (90), men's golf (100), women's golf (100), soccer (100), volleyball (100) and women's tennis (100) boasted the top scores in the Big 12 in their respective sports.
 
Overall, seven sports showed improvement in their GSR since the 2018-19 report, along with seven others holding steady.

“We are extremely proud of all of our student-athletes who graduate,” Assistant AD for Academic Services Deedee Brown-Campbell said. “These record-breaking numbers are a tribute to the hard work that our student-athletes, coaches, faculty and staff give to make Baylor a great institution. Leading the Big 12 in GSR is impressive, but more importantly pushing our student-athletes to reach their personal best, in the classroom and on the field of play, is how we prepare champions for life.”

The GSR was developed to more accurately assess the academic performance of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for students that transfer into their institution, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees. Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution's GSR cohort. The NCAA began compiling these figures with the entering freshmen class of 1995.

The 2019-20 federal graduation rate for the Bears is 73 percent, highest in the Big 12, and four points higher than the year prior. Baylor has finished either first or second in the federal graduation rate report 14 times in the league's 25-year history, produced the league's top mark in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2020, and has graduated at least 60 percent of its student-athletes 22 times.

Sport-Specific Highlights:

Baseball: 100 percent for the first time in program history. Atop the Big 12 as the only team in the league at 100. One of three programs in the state and one of 46 nationally at 100.  

Football: 91 percent is the best in the Big 12 for the fourth-straight year and is a program-best mark in the last 16 years. Tied for seventh nationally among Power Five schools.

Men’s XC/Track and Field: 90 percent ties for best in program history and leads the Big 12.

Men's Golf: 100 percent GSR for nine-straight years.

Women's Golf: 100 percent GSR for eight-straight years.

Soccer: 100 percent GSR for four-straight years.

Women's Tennis: 100 percent GSR for eight-straight years.

Women's Volleyball: 100 percent for second-straight year.