Miami Student

Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Campus

Libby Ahmann studies between practices for the varsity synchronized skating team.

Whoever said multitasking was difficult must not have met a Miami University student-athlete, as Miami's student-athlete graduation rates are among the highest in the nation.

According to the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Federal Graduation Rate report, Miami student-athletes are graduating within six years at a rate of 85 percent. This ranks Miami second in the nation, behind the United States
Naval Academy.

This graduation rate is higher than all undergraduates at Miami, whose success rate is 81 percent. Miami currently ranks ninth in the nation for overall graduation rates for a public university.

Richard Nault, vice president of student affairs, said that Miami's Athletic Department has been referred to as a national jewel and an ideal model for other universities.

"Our athletes put academics first," Nault said. "It shows their commitment both inside and outside of the classroom."

But what makes Miami's success rate so significant is the fact that they exceeded the national graduation rate average for student-athletes, which was 63 percent.

Having to report graduation rates of student-athletes is a relatively new phenomenon as it wasn't until 1990, when the Student-Athlete Right to Know Act was passed, that is was made mandatory for schools to report these rates.

The bill was proposed by former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey after finding that many schools had a zero percent graduation rate for athletes. The bill was designed particularly for high school students to see the graduation rates of schools that were recruiting them, according to Brad Bates, Miami's director of athletics.

In 2005 the NCAA established the Academic Progress Rating (APR), which assesses both the retention of and graduation rates of student-athletes. The incentive for colleges and universities to participate in this program is the opportunity to gain scholarships from the NCAA.

In order to maintain and earn scholarships, student-athlete graduation rates need to be 50 percent or higher. From the APR scores, which are published every year, the NCAA then offers scholarships for schools based on these graduation rates, Bates said.

However Bates said that there's more to success than just good grades. Bates explained that Miami's Athletic Department is selective in their recruiting-picking students who are distinguished by their academics and who are focused on their

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