AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn Athletics posted its highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in program history, 94 percent, exceeding Auburn's record-setting 93-percent rates from 2021 and 2022, the NCAA announced Wednesday.
"We commend these Auburn student-athletes for bringing the same discipline and tenacity to the pursuit of their Auburn University degrees as they do to athletic competition," athletics director John Cohen said. "This elite achievement is the product of the commitment displayed by student-athletes and their families, along with the diligence of Auburn's academic support services staff and coaching staffs."
Figures released Dec. 6 reflect graduation numbers among student-athletes who entered college during the 2016-17 academic year.
Auburn's 94 percent GSR ranks third in the Southeastern Conference.
Division I student-athletes are graduating at record rates. The overall single-cohort rate increased by one point to 91 percent, which is the highest rate recorded.
The NCAA has tracked GSR for more than two decades, and student-athletes have surpassed the original benchmark goal of 80 percent with long-term graduation rate increases being observed year after year from an overall 74 percent in 2002 to this year's record 91 percent.
ABOUT THE GRADUATION SUCCESS RATE: The GSR begins with the federal cohort, and adds transfer students, mid-year enrollees, and non-scholarship students (in specified cases) to 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. This rate provides a more complete and accurate look at actual student-athlete success by taking into account the full variety of participants in Division I athletics and tracking their academic outcomes. While student-athlete graduation success continues to rise, additional flexibility in rules governing competition after transfer, implemented in 2021, could impact graduation rates in the future.