Nearly every main demographic group of top college athletes exceeds the graduation rate for its student-body counterparts.
The NCAA released federal graduation rate statistics today. They showed that 63 percent of all Division I athletes who started college as freshmen in 2000 graduated in six years. That beat the graduation rate for all students at Division I schools by 1 percent.
The statistics do not count transfer students.
White athletes had a 67 percent graduation rate, compared to 64 percent for white students overall. Black athletes also outperformed their student-body counterparts, 53 percent to 46 percent.
NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said the numbers show student-athletes are good students too.
