BU Athletics Sets Department Record for NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR)
November 19, 2025 | General, Student-Athlete Academic Support Service
BOSTON – The Boston University Department of Athletics achieved an overall Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 94 percent or higher for the 13th consecutive year, setting a new record high with a 97, and over half of BU's 24 varsity teams recorded a perfect 100 percent GSR, according to data released by the NCAA.
Men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track & field, men's and women's rowing, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, women's basketball, field hockey, women's golf, women's ice hockey, women's soccer and softball all earned perfect scores. Four additional programs -- men's and women's lacrosse, men's basketball and men's soccer -- each had GSR scores of at least 93 percent.
This year's overall GSR data represents an aggregate average of the incoming classes from 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. The team scores reflect an aggregate average of that particular team's incoming students from the same time period. This marked the 20th straight cohort in which Terrier Athletics achieved a GSR of 93 percent or higher.
BU posted a 97 GSR following last year's 96 GSR and all 10 members of the Patriot League had a score of 91 or better. The NCAA Division I average GSR for this cohort was a 90.
The GSR was developed to provide graduation data of student-athletes who receive athletics aid at Division I institutions more accurately than the federal rates that had been calculated based solely on freshmen matriculation. It includes in its calculation students who transfer into institutions, and subtracts those who leave their institutions prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained. The GSR credits a school for students who graduate within six years of entering their institution.
A GSR is compiled only for athletic departments, and not for entire student bodies. The federal graduation rate allows for a four-year window and neither includes those who transfer in nor excludes those who transfer out.
More information about the GSR report is available at the NCAA's official website, www.ncaa.org.
Men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track & field, men's and women's rowing, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, women's basketball, field hockey, women's golf, women's ice hockey, women's soccer and softball all earned perfect scores. Four additional programs -- men's and women's lacrosse, men's basketball and men's soccer -- each had GSR scores of at least 93 percent.
This year's overall GSR data represents an aggregate average of the incoming classes from 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. The team scores reflect an aggregate average of that particular team's incoming students from the same time period. This marked the 20th straight cohort in which Terrier Athletics achieved a GSR of 93 percent or higher.
BU posted a 97 GSR following last year's 96 GSR and all 10 members of the Patriot League had a score of 91 or better. The NCAA Division I average GSR for this cohort was a 90.
The GSR was developed to provide graduation data of student-athletes who receive athletics aid at Division I institutions more accurately than the federal rates that had been calculated based solely on freshmen matriculation. It includes in its calculation students who transfer into institutions, and subtracts those who leave their institutions prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained. The GSR credits a school for students who graduate within six years of entering their institution.
A GSR is compiled only for athletic departments, and not for entire student bodies. The federal graduation rate allows for a four-year window and neither includes those who transfer in nor excludes those who transfer out.
More information about the GSR report is available at the NCAA's official website, www.ncaa.org.
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