NEW ORLEANS – Student-athletes at Sun Belt Conference institutions are consistently graduating at higher rates than the general student populations at their universities, according to the latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data released by the NCAA. 

Twelve Sun Belt Conference institutions achieved higher Federal Graduation Rates (FGR) than their overall student populations in the latest report.
 
James Madison, Marshall and South Alabama are tied for the highest institutional Graduation Success Rate in the Sun Belt Conference at 90 percent. James Madison charted the highest FGR for students and student-athletes among Sun Belt institutions. 
 
Sixty-one Sun Belt Conference sport programs received perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rates. Marshall and Old Dominion co-led the conference with six programs at each institution earning perfect 100 percent rates. 

At least one program in 13-of-15 Sun Belt sponsored sports with data provided by the NCAA touted a perfect 100 percent GSR. Women’s golf led the way with 10 programs with a perfect 100 percent GSR, while men’s golf paced the men’s sports with eight teams with a perfect 100 percent GSR. 

Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) indicates the percentage of freshmen who entered and received athletics aid during a given academic year who graduated within six years. The NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) adds to the first-time freshmen, those students who entered mid-year, as well as student-athletes who transferred into an institution and received athletics aid. 
 
The single-year FGR cohort includes student-athletes who enrolled in college in 2017-18, while the four-year FGR and GSR cohort includes those enrolled from 2014-15 through 2017-18. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors instituted the GSR in response to Division I college and university presidents who wanted data that more accurately reflected the mobility of college students than the federal graduation rate. The NCAA has tracked GSR for more than two decades.