Graduation rates for all Div. I women's basketball
players "declined for the second straight year," according
to Mark Asher of the WASHINGTON POST. The declines, which
were reported in the '99 NCAA Graduation Rates Report
released today, "were sharpest among black basketball
players, both male and female, as other rates generally
remained constant." One-year drops of 4% for all female
basketball players and 6% for black female players "left
those graduation rates equal to and two points lower than
those for any class entering college since the NCAA
implemented tougher standards in the fall of" '86. In two
years, the graduation rate of all female Div. I basketball
players dropped from an all-time high of 67% to 62%. Asher
adds, "Nevertheless, female basketball players continue to
graduate at a higher rate than all female students do"
(WASHINGTON POST, 8/30). The survey also shows that 58% of
more than 14,600 athletes who entered as freshmen in '92
"had graduated by last year." USA TODAY's Steve Wieberg:
"That's a percentage point higher than a year ago and
slightly better than the 56% for the entire student body at
the same schools" (USA TODAY, 8/30).
