NU Leads Big 12 in Exhausted Eligibility Graduation Rates

LINCOLN, Neb. -- For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Nebraska Athletic Department leads the Big 12 Conference in the Exhausted Eligibility Graduation Rate. Nebraska’s rate increased by another percentage point to 91 percent, posting an improved rate for the fifth straight year. The Exhausted Eligibility Rate surveys the graduation of scholarship student-athletes who entered the University of Nebraska from 1988-89 through 1997-98 and exhausted their athletic eligibility at the University of Nebraska.

Nebraska's Exhausted Eligibility Graduation Rate is eight percentage points higher than the national average (83 percent).

NU's four-class rate for football student-athletes entering in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 ranks second in the Big 12, at 63 percent, 10 percentage points higher than the national average and nine points higher than the UNL average of 54 percent. Nebraska is the only Big 12 University that has ranked among the top three in the conference since the Big 12 was formed in 1996.

Nebraska's one-class average, for football student-athletes entering school in 1997, is 72 percent, 17 percentage points higher than the national average and 13 points higher than the UNL average of 59 percent.

The 2004 Nebraska football team has two students playing who have already earned their degrees, including senior fullback Steve Kriewald and senior linebacker Ira Cooper. An additional five Husker football players are expected to complete their degrees in December 2004, including Willie Amos, Jake Andersen, Kellen Huston, Jeff McBride and Chad Sievers.

"We are extremely pleased that Nebraska is once again at the top of the Big 12 conference with a 91 percent graduation rate," said Associate Athletic Director Dennis Leblanc. "When you combine a 91 percent graduation rate with 217 Academic All-Americans and 14 Top Eight Award honorees, Nebraska stacks up as a great place for parents to send their son or daughter to college. Our current and former student-athletes have established an academic tradition that is unmatched in college athletics."

Earlier this season, Nebraska unveiled the Hall of Distinction which proudly displays the names of all Husker letterwinners who have graduated. The one-of-a kind display is in the same hallway as NU’s nation-leading 109 first-team academic All-America portraits and the display that honors Nebraska’s nation-leading 14 NCAA Today’s Top Eight Award winners. Nebraska athletics continues to lead the nation in the number of academic All-Americans for all teams and all sports with 217.

Big 12 Schools Comparison -- Top Three in Each Category
Big 12 Exhausted Eligibility Graduation Rate; All Student-Athletes:
National Average: 83%
All-Nebraska Students: NA
Nebraska ? 91%
Iowa State ? 89%
Missouri ? 88%
Baylor ? 88 %

Four-Class Average (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997); Football Only
National Average: 53%
All-Nebraska Students: 54%
Baylor ? 76%
Nebraska ? 63%
Kansas State ? 61%

One-Class Average (Entered in 1997); Football Only:
National Average: 55%
All-Nebraska Students: 59%
Baylor ? 88%
Oklahoma State 87%
Nebraska ? 72%
Source: NCAA and University of Nebraska Information Research