INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference ranks among one of the nation's top NCAA Division II conferences for academic success, including those with teams competing at this week's men's and women's basketball Elite Eight tournaments.  Among the 24 NCAA Division II conferences analyzed in the report published by the national office, the GLVC ranked second in Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) at 64 percent and third in Academic Success Rate (ASR) at 81 percent for all student-athletes.

Those numbers represent an increase from last year's overall averages, when the GLVC was third in both rankings with an FGR of 62 percent and ASR of 80 percent.  Two years ago, the GLVC's averages were 61 and 79 percent, respectively.

In terms of conferences represented at the Elite Eight, GLVC men's basketball ranks second behind the Northeast-10 Conference with an FGR of 54 percent (NE10: 68%) and second with an ASR of 73 percent (74%).  On the women's side, the GLVC is overall behind the Northeast-10 with an FGR clip of 71 percent (81%) and fourth overall in ASR at 86 percent, just behind the Northeast-10 (91%), Sunshine State Conference (89%), and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (89%).  Nationally, the GLVC men's basketball FGR and ASR clips are 10 and 15 percentage points higher than the NCAA Division II averages, while the women's FGR and ASR totals are 12 and eight points higher than the national marks.

The report, which focuses on the academic success of freshman cohorts who enrolled in school between 2003-06, and were then given a six-year window to graduate, indicates that 3,719 of the GLVC's 4,590 student-athletes earned their degrees, which established the conference's ASR.  The FGR was calculated by 2,043 graduates among 3,189 selected student-athletes.

The GLVC trailed only the Northeast-10 and its 70 percent FGR, while the Northeast-10 and the Sunshine State paced all Division II leagues with an ASR of 86 percent, followed by the GLVC.

The GLVC also ranked among the nation's finest in individual sports.  In baseball, the GLVC leads the nation with an ASR of 84 percent, graduating 444 of the 526 enrollees.  For the second year in a row, the GLVC rated second in men's football (68%), third in men's basketball (73%) and "women's other sports" (91%), which include every sport with the exception of basketball and track and field/cross country.

As for the FGR, the GLVC is second nationally in baseball (62%), women's basketball (71%), and "women's other sports" (75%).  "Men's other sports" (62%) and men's basketball (54%) both rank third among all Division II conferences.

Of the 10 categories measured (overall student body, all student-athletes, baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football, men's track and field/cross country, women's track and field/cross country, men's "other sports" and women's "other sports"), the GLVC showed significant increases from last year's FGR totals in nine areas, including: student body (52% from 46%), all student-athletes (64% from 62%), football (49% from 45%), men's basketball (54% from 53%), baseball (62% from 61%), men's other (62% from 59%), women's basketball (71% from 68%), women's track and field/cross country (72% from 69%), and women's other (75% from 72%).  These increases are also significant given the fact that the national Division II rate in all but one category declined no more than two percentage points from last season.  GLVC men's track and field/cross country dipped 63 to 56 percent, but still hovered four percentage points above the national average.  In all, each of the GLVC's measured FGR data rates between four-to-14 percent higher than the Division II marks.

When looking at the ASR, the GLVC saw an annual increase in seven of its nine areas, including all student-athletes (81% from 80%), football (68% from 65%), men's basketball (73% from 71%), baseball (84% from 81%), men's other (77% from 76%), women's track and field/cross country (88% from 87%), and women's other (91% from 90%).  Women's basketball dropped two points to 86 percent, which still ranks eight percentage points above the national average, while men's track and field/cross country fell four points to 72 percent, two above the DII average.

The ASR and FGR improvements across the board are also notable given that the GLVC's total enrollment increased by nearly 500 overall students and more than 300 student-athletes from last year's study.

According to NCAA.org, the Division II ASR, which was first introduced in 2005, is a rolling average of the graduation outcomes for Division II student-athletes. Even when using the less-inclusive federal rate (which does not include transfer student-athletes and mid-year enrollees), Division II student-athletes perform significantly better than the general student body.  In addition to the 71 percent ASR figure, the FGR for Division II student-athletes is 54 percent, six percentage points higher than the overall student body at Division II colleges and universities.