Nov. 4, 2015 WACO, Texas ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" While Baylor Athletics enjoyed one of its most successful overall seasons in 2014-15, its student-athletes continued to thrive in the classroom, too, evidenced by data released today by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) which showed Baylor leading the Big 12 Conference in both Graduation Success Rate and Federal Graduation Rate.

"We are grateful and honored to once again lead the Big 12 in both Graduation Success Rate and Federal Graduation Rate," said Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "Baylor Athletics' strong academic performance is a credit to the dedication of our student-athletes, academic commitment of our coaches and outstanding work of the student-athlete services team. Moreover, Baylor's faculty continues to play a vital role in the academic development of our student-athletes and are to be commended for their outstanding classroom work."

Baylor's Big 12 co-leading Graduation Success Rate score of 88 was matched by TCU and ranked ahead of Texas (85), Kansas (84), Oklahoma (84), West Virginia (82), Kansas State (81), Iowa State (80), Texas Tech (79) and Oklahoma State (71) among league schools. BU, which has finished either first or second among Big 12 schools in composite GSR score seven times in the last nine years, also produced the Big 12's top GSR mark in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2014.

Baylor's 2015 GSR composite score of 88 equaled its league-leading 2014 score and was also 5 points better than the Division I FBS national average, while both its male (81) and female (94) GSR scores were 4 and 3 points, respectively, higher than the FBS national averages. In 2015, Baylor's male and female GSR scores equaled its 2014 marks.

In 17 of Baylor's sports where the GSR was measured by the NCAA, 16 Baylor programs met or exceeded the national GSR threshold in their particular sport for all Division I institutions. Baylor produced league-leading GSR scores in three sports---men's golf (100), women's golf (100) and women's tennis (100) and ranked third among Big 12 institutions in baseball (79), men's cross country/track & field (88), football (74) and women's soccer (96).

The NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) was developed to more accurately assess the academic performance of student-athletes. The rate holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport. Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution's GSR cohort. The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2005-2008. More than 117,000 student-athletes are included in the most recent four classes using the GSR methodology, as compared to about 86,000 in the federal rate. The NCAA began compiling these figures with the entering freshmen class of 1995.

For the first time since 2012 and the seventh time in the Big 12's 20-year history, Baylor topped the Big 12 Conference in the 2015 federal graduation rate study with a 77 percent mark for all student-athletes, some 9 points higher than the national FBS institutional rate average. Following Baylor among Big 12 schools in the fed grad survey were Texas (75 percent), West Virginia (71), Oklahoma (70), TCU (68), Texas Tech (66), Kansas State (63), Iowa State (61), Kansas (59) and Oklahoma State (47).

Baylor has finished either first or second in the fed grad rate report 10 times in the league's 20-year history, produced the league's top mark in 2015, 2012, 2004, 2001, 2000, 1998 and 1996, and has graduated at least 60 percent of its student-athletes in 16 of the Big 12's first 20 years.