BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford University's athletics teams posted an impressive 98, the second-highest score in the nation, in the NCAA's latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report, released Wednesday afternoon.
 
This ranking places Samford among some of the top-ranked schools in the country, including Duke, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Princeton. In addition to the national standings, Samford also had the highest score among all schools in Alabama and the highest in the Southern Conference.
 
"I am continually impressed with how consistently hard our student-athletes work, both athletically and academically," Samford Deputy Director of Athletics Michelle Durban said. "In every year since the GSR was implemented, our student-athletes have scored among the nation's best. We are all extremely proud of these scores and know they will continue in the years to come."

The university has a long history of performing at a high level for its combination of excellence in both academics and athletic competition and has consistently earned an overall GSR score of above 90 percent since 2012.
 
The NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance implemented the initial release of the GSR in 2005 to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes. The most recent GSR measures how many student-athletes in the classes of 2013 through 2016 graduated within six years of their enrollment.
 
Twelve of Samford's teams earned perfect scores of 100 percent. The Bulldog baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country/track, men's golf, men's tennis, women's basketball, women's cross country/track, women's golf, women's soccer, softball, women's tennis and volleyball teams all registered perfect scores. Every Samford team was at or above the national average in the report.
 
The NCAA developed the Division I Graduation Success Rate in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today. The graduation-rate data are based on a six-year cohort prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education.

Samford competes in 17 NCAA Division I sports in the historic Southern Conference.
 
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