INDIAPOLIS -- The NCAA has released the latest Division II graduation rate data, including the division’s Academic Success Rate (ASR), which held good news for the PacWest.
Around the PacWest, every institution had an ASR of 70 or better for 2020-21. Biola topped the list with an ASR of 98, which is also the best in the West Region, followed by Dominican in second place in the PacWest at 94. Point Loma is the conference leader in Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) and has an ASR of 93, which ranks third in the PacWest and fourth in the entire West Region.
The national four-year ASR average increased to 76%, a 2-point increase from last year’s rate, according to the most recent Academic Success Rate data. The NCAA developed the Division II ASR at the request of college and university presidents who desired a new method to measure graduation rates aside from the traditional FGR.
Division II’s ASR data takes transfer students into account and removes likely transfers-out who left the school in good academic standing. In addition, given the partial scholarship financial aid model of Division II, the ASR data includes student-athletes not on athletically related financial aid.
The result is that ASR captures more than 31,000 non-scholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data. Even when utilizing the less-inclusive federal rate, Division II student-athletes outperform the general student body by 8%.
The federal rate for Division II student-athletes increased by 1 point to 60%, while the general student body also increased by 1 point to 52% At the NCAA Convention in January 2014, the Division II membership approved a legislative package intended to increase student-athlete success and graduation rates.
The package addresses a variety of academic standards, and includes adjustments to eligibility standards, progress-toward-degree requirements and standards for transfers from two-year colleges. This is the third academic year in which all of these requirements are in effect.