Nebraska Honored for Football Graduation Rate

Lincoln -- The University of Nebraska was recently honored by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) for its graduation rate of better than 90 percent for its football student-athletes from the freshman class of 1996-97.

Nebraska was one of just nine schools across the country to receive the AFCA's prestigious honor, joining Notre Dame, Penn State, Boston College, Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, Western Michigan and Northwestern, among the 80 institutions that participated in the national survey.

The Husker football program achieved the highest graduation rate among all Big 12 Conference schools for the fourth time in the last six years. Kansas State and Texas Tech both earned AFCA recognition for achieving graduation rates of 70 percent or better. Nebraska also led the Big 12 in football graduation rates in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

The honor marked the fourth time that Nebraska has been recognized for its high graduation rates, including honorable-mention honors from the College Football Association (CFA) in 1994, 1995 and 1996 for graduation rates of better than 70 percent. Before 1998, only members of the CFA were honored.

Since Frank Solich's first year as Nebraska's head coach in 1998, 86 of his 95 seniors have earned their degrees, including 22 of 23 last season. Nebraska's graduation rate across all sports for student-athletes who have completed their eligibility is 89 percent.

Northwestern earned the association's highest honor, the 2002 Academic Achievement Award, for a 100 percent graduation rate. The award is presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Memphis. Northwestern also achieved a 100 percent graduation rate in 1998.

In all, 25 schools were honored by the AFCA for graduating 70 percent or more of their football student-athletes. The overall graduation rate of the 80 institutions participating in the survey was 60 percent, the highest recorded in the history of the survey and just ahead of last year?s 59 percent. Forty-five of the members that responded were above the average and 35 were below the average. The median graduation rate was 61 percent, compared to 58 percent the last four years. The study involves the freshman class from the academic year of 1996-97, including those who entered at that time but who did not receive financial aid until after their initial year, or who transferred from another institution and subsequently received a grant-in-aid.