Collegiate Times

Although athletically Virginia Tech competes at an admirable level in the Atlantic Coast Conference, academically the Hokies appear to falter.

The 2006 NCAA Division I Federal Graduation Rate Data report, released prior to Thanksgiving, found that 63 percent of Tech’s scholarship student-athletes who enrolled in the fall of 1999 graduated from the university within six years, compared to the 76 percent of Tech’s general student-body.

“We strive to equal the campus average,” said Jon Jaudon, associate director of athletics. “That is our goal every year.”

For all Division I institutions, the NCAA annually generates graduation-rate data by comparing the number of scholarship student-athletes who enroll in each university and earn a degree within a six-year period compared to the total number of scholarship student-athletes.
In the 1999 cohort, the Hokies tied the national average of 63 percent and tied Clemson University for eighth in the ACC. Duke led the conference with a 91 percent graduation rate, while Boston College followed closely with 90 percent. Tech’s neighbors upstate, placed fourth with 74 percent.

“The University of Virginia does a great job identifying students who can be successful at that school,” said Chris Helms, director of student-athlete academic support services. “A lot of the time, coaches are after the same students, but the school atmosphere and the coaches’ expectations with the students factor in.”

The influence of atmosphere and expectations seem questionable for certain sports.

“Nationally, men’s basketball and baseball have consistently been lower,” Jaudon said. “Speaking from national trends, football usually wavers around the 54 to 53 percent range, which compared to some other sports is lower.”

In this year’s report, the Tech football team graduated at 53 percent, one percent below the 2006 national average of 54 percent. The Hokies’ 2006 graduation rate fell from last year’s 67 percent.

But these numbers may not tell the entire story.

The NCAA Federal Graduation Rates Report does not take into account the impact of scholarship-transfer students.

“While our goal is to graduate our student-athletes at a rate equal to the student body in general, the numbers are not always equitable,” Helms said. “Statistically, if you lose one student athlete in a cohort of typically in and around 70, that’s more than a percentage point. Lose one student on campus in a cohort of 5,000, it’s not such a big difference.”

For example, in the cohort of 70 student-athletes, the transfer of five student-athletes immediately lowers the graduation rate to 93 percent, while in the general study-body cohort of 5,000, the number only slightly dips to 99.99 percent.

“It’s statistically tough when you have such a small number,” Helms said. “Year-by-year the numbers swing up and down.”

According to Jaudon, roughly eight student-athletes transfer from Tech per year, often varying drastically from year-to-year.

“A big component is coaching change,” he said. “You often have individuals who transfer, either because of style of play, the personality of the new coach or their personality meshing with the personality of the new coach.”

For example, in the fall of 1999, three freshmen entered on scholarship to play men’s basketball at Tech — Tony Dobbins, Brian Felts and Jon Smith. With a staff change, all three transferred to different programs, drastically lowering Tech’s graduation rate. Because of the transfers, the NCAA reported men’s basketball graduation rate at zero percent.

“When you look at why (the graduation rate) is what it is, you look at sports programs,” Helms said. “With basketball, we lost three student-athletes over night … Graduation rates are often affected by factors outside of our control.”

Because of the limited control with transfer students, the Tech athletics department often complements the NCAA figures with other statistics.

The NCAA created the Graduation Success Rate in order to take into account transfers. This number does not count against institution’s transfer students who leave in good academic standing.

“The NCAA feels that the GSR is a truer measure of what happens academically at each institution,” Helms said. “The numbers are more comparable, while the factors are different.”

In the 2006 data, Tech finished with an average 82 percent GSR. Football earned a 74 percent and men’s basketball a 71 percent, numbers significantly different from the graduation rate data.

In addition to the GSR, the athletics department considers Tech’s Number Exhausting Eligibility. The exhausted-eligibility rate indicates the percent of student-athletes who earn a degree after using up eligibility.

“This is not a comparison to the campus, but the number is based on a 10-year average,” Jaudon said. “It’s always going to be higher, but it’s a different way to look at graduation.”

Tech’s average exhaustive-eligibility in the 2006 data was 83 percent.

“I would say that’s probably consistent with most schools,” Helms said. “I don’t think it’s extraordinarily high, but it’s not low.”
At Tech, the athletics department strives to secure degrees for all student-athletes. In order to achieve this goal, the university provides the student-athletes with premier support and facilities. This year, the athletics department unveiled the new support center in Lane Stadium, with several computer labs, increased tutoring rooms and resources, and continued academic advising.

“Virginia Tech provides resources that are equitable, if not better than every program in the ACC,” Helms said. “By doing that, I think we’re in the upper tier in terms of the facilities and support we provide.”

With the top-notch academic support, graduation and academic success falls largely on individual student-athletes. Some undoubtedly take advantage. In the 2006 spring semester, 56 percent of student-athletes achieved a 3.0 or higher GPA, with 13 students earning a 4.0.
“We have a wide-range of student-athletes,” Helms said. “There are some tremendous students who have been incredibly successful …  and some athletes who do not live up to expectations.”

Nonetheless, Tech looks to aid all student-athletes in earning a degree.

“We’re going to continue to strive to graduate our student-athletes at a rate equal to the student-body,” Jaudon said. “There are going to be years greater and years less, but to ignore any one year as an anomaly would be a mistake. We have to look at the individual students in the cohort.”