BERKELEY – Cal's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) has reached a record high for the school at 85 percent, according to the latest data released by the NCAA on Wednesday. The figure is three percent higher than last year and continues a trend of rising Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores and grade-point averages for Golden Bear student-athletes.
Cal's GSR has increased four consecutive years, and the figure is its best since the NCAA began tabulating results in 1998-99. The school's previous high GSR came last year at 82 percent.
In addition to the overall GSR score, a school-record seven teams reached 100 percent, a record-tying 11 teams stood at 90 percent or higher, and 15 of 23 measured program were at least 85 percent.
"These results clearly show that our student-athletes are highly motivated to excel in their chosen fields of study, and they should be applauded for their level of achievement in the classroom," Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. "Maintaining and growing an environment focused on the total student-athlete experience – academically, athletically and developmentally – is our highest priority as an athletic department, and the latest figures are a testament to the hard work and commitment shown by our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the University as a whole. We still have room for improvement and are working every day to help ensure our student-athletes graduate and are prepared for their lives after Cal."
The GSR is based on a six-year cohort, meaning that the latest report includes only those student-athletes who received athletic scholarships, enrolled at Cal as freshmen or incoming transfers from 2009-12, and completed their degree within six years.
The seven teams that achieved 100 percent GSRs are:
Women's Golf
Women's Gymnastics (3rd year in a row)
Women's Swimming & Diving (4th year in a row)
Men's Tennis (4th year in a row)
Women's Tennis (7th year in a row)
Volleyball (8th year in a row)
Men's Water Polo
Four additional teams posted GSRs of at least 90 percent – men's swimming & diving (92%), women's rowing (94%), field hockey (91%) and women's water polo (90%). Baseball (89%), men's gymnastics (86%), lacrosse (89%) and softball (88%) also surpassed 85 percent for the year.
In addition, football's GSR leapt 11 percent over the past year to 75 percent, a record high for the program and a 31 percent increase over the past six years. Men's basketball's rate of 64 percent is up 8 percent year over year and 26 percent higher than six years ago. Other programs with significant gains include baseball (up 21% over the past four years), men's water polo (up 23% over the last five years), women's golf (up 40% over the last four years) and softball (up 25% over the last five years).
While the GSR looks at results for student-athletes who enrolled between 7-10 years ago, statistics that focus on more current student-athletes also reveal strong results. The average GPA for all student-athletes during the 2018-19 academic term was 3.081, with 22 of 30 teams posting GPAs above 3.0. The women's swimming & diving team led the way with a 3.399 GPA.
In regards to the APR, which provides a more real-time measurement of academic success than the GSR and centers on academic progress within the past five years, Cal had 16 teams score at or above 990 in the most recent release from May 2019. A total of 15 teams equaled or established all-time highs, with seven teams earning NCAA Public Recognition awards with scores of 1,000 (the highest possible) – beach volleyball, men's cross country, women's golf, lacrosse, women's soccer, men's tennis and volleyball. Football's APR of 979 was its highest ever and marks a 44-point increase from just six years ago.
