PORTLAND, Ore. – In the annual graduation report released by the NCAA, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference remained towards the top of the Division II ranks with another strong showing.
Student-athletes at GNAC schools combined to post a federal graduation frate of 63%, the seventh-highest mark among the 24 NCAA Division II conferences and group of independent schools. It marked the fifth year in a row that the GNAC has posted a mark of 63% or better in the category, and it was 5% higher than the general GNAC student body graduation success rate of 58%.
By measure of academic success rate, GNAC student-athletes posted a mark of 82% which ranked sixth among the Division II constituency. It was the highest-ever mark by the conference and the fourth straight year that the GNAC reached 80% in the academic success rate.
“The success in both graduation rates and academic outcomes revealed in the recent report is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our institutions, coaches, and most importantly our student-athletes,” said GNAC commissioner
Bridget Johnson Tetteh. “Their ability to balance rigorous academic schedules with elite athletic performance is truly inspiring.”
Among the conference’s sports, GNAC women’s rowing had the highest federal graduation rate at 82% and men’s cross country/track & field and men’s golf had the highest men’s sport mark at 67%. The highest overall academic success rate in the GNAC was women’s golf which posted a mark of 95%. On the men’s side, men’s golf and baseball each led the way with an academic success rate of 82%.
According to the NCAA the national four-cohort ASR average increased to 77% and overall Division II student-athlete graduation rates are at or near their highest levels.
The academic success rate differs from the federal graduation rate in that it accounts for the outcomes of student-athletes who transfer from one institution to another (and removes students who left the institution in good academic standing). Because of this, the ASR captures approximately 40% more student-athletes than the federal rate.
The Division II ASR also measures outcomes for more than 30,000 non-scholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.
| GNAC Academic Data History |
| Cohort |
Grad. Rates (GNAC S-As) |
Grad. Rates (All GNAC Students) |
Acad. Success Rate (GNAC S-As) |
| 2001-04 |
56% |
53% |
76% |
| 2002-05 |
58% |
55% |
75% |
| 2003-06 |
60% |
56% |
75% |
| 2004-07 |
61% |
56% |
74% |
| 2005-08 |
62% |
56% |
75% |
| 2006-09 |
60% |
56% |
75% |
| 2007-10 |
61% |
56% |
76% |
| 2008-11 |
61% |
57% |
77% |
| 2009-12 |
62% |
56% |
78% |
| 2010-13 |
65% |
57% |
79% |
| 2011-14 |
65% |
57% |
80% |
| 2012-15 |
66% |
58% |
80% |
| 2013-16 |
65% |
58% |
80% |
| 2014-17 |
63% |
58% |
82% |
| Note: Data reporting is done on a 10-year cohort lag (2024 reporting was for 2014-17 first-year cohorts). |