According to data from the latest NCAA Division I scholarship graduation report, Ohio State athletes ranked last in the Big Ten in graduation rates.
The report, which averaged the graduation rates of the freshman classes of 1989 through 1992, said that OSU graduated, on average, only 55 percent of its athletes during this time. All other Big Ten schools were at or above 60 percent, with the exception of Minnesota.
The report counted all athletes that graduated within six years of their freshman year at college. The national average athlete graduation for this time period was 58 percent.
In addition to the average rate, the report also measured the graduation rate from the freshman class of 1992. Ohio State’s 1992 freshman class graduated only 52 percent of its athletes.
OSU athletic director Andy Geiger told the Columbus Dispatch that Ohio State’s graduation rate was “too low,” and was concerned about how to correct the problem in the future.
Geiger said that a major concern is that OSU’s worst numbers came from the football and men`s basketball teams.
The report shows that, while the national average graduation rate for NCAA football players was 52 percent, OSU only managed to graduate 36 percent of its football players from the classes of 1988 to 1992. According to the previous four-year report, OSU graduated 57 percent of its football players, a decline of 19 percent.
The NCAA average graduation rate for men’s basketball players during this time was 43 percent, but OSU graduated only 21 percent of its basketball players. In addition, OSU graduated only 17 percent of its men basketball players from the freshman class of 1992, a number way below that year’s national average of 41 percent.
Kate Riffee, OSU assistant athletic director for student-athlete support services, told the Dispatch that she could not pinpoint one reason to explain Ohio State’s low athlete graduation rates. However, she did say that, in many cases, dropouts were not due to acedemic issues.
Riffee said that many athletes transfer from OSU with hopes of getting more playing time at a smaller university. Also, Riffee pointed out that many OSU football players have left early for the NFL during the past few years.
Head football coach John Cooper told the Dispatch that he doesn’t think the low graduation rates are completely the fault of the university. Cooper said that he doesn’t know of any university in the country that places more of an emphasis on academics.
Cooper said that athletes are provided with study facilities, tutors, counselors and even mentors to help them succeed in school.
