WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary Athletics once again ranked among the best academically in the country. The NCAA released its annual graduation rate reports on Dec. 6, and for the 18th time in the last 19 years, the Tribe produced the highest Federal Graduation Rate among all Division I public institutions.  
 
William & Mary's 88% FGR was well ahead of the national average for all student-athletes (69%). The Tribe's student-athlete FGR ranked 10th overall among all Division I schools and was the highest in the state of Virginia.
 
"At William & Mary, we strive to be the best in everything we do, and clearly we are accomplishing that goal in the classroom!  To achieve the #1 ranking consistently as we have done over the past two decades, is a tremendous accomplishment.  Congratulations to everyone who contributed to this milestone and W&M Athletics is grateful for being part of such a stellar academic and athletic community," said Brian D. Mann, director of athletics.

In addition to the Federal Graduation Rate reporting, the NCAA calculates a separate graduation metric called the Graduation Success Rate (GSR). W&M was also exceptional with a department score of 94% for the second-straight year. The GSR differs from the FGR by also including students who transfer into an institution, and by removing athletes who transfer out in good academic standing. The NCAA's overall single-year rate for the GSR held steady at 90%. The Tribe ranked 17th nationally in GSR among Division I public school and was third in both the state of Virginia and the CAA in the metric.

W&M had 12 teams report a 100% GSR. That list includes four teams who have achieved a perfect GSR every year, including men's and women's gymnastics, men's tennis and women's golf. Men's golf (8), women's soccer (7), men's basketball (6), women's lacrosse (6), women's swimming (5) and women's tennis (5) continued streaks of over five consecutive years earning 100% GSRs, while field hockey and women's basketball also achieved the mark for this cohort.


In total, 16 of the Tribe's 19 programs had a higher GSR above their respective sport national averages (while William & Mary proudly sponsors 23 sports, the NCAA combines cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field for this calculation). Every program had an FGR above the national average.

The data in the report includes the cohort of students who began higher education in the fall of 2016 and the four-year average of students who first enrolled between the fall of 2013 through the fall of 2016.