Published on December 3, 2021 by Holly Gainer  
Female Soccer Player Kicking Ball

Samford University’s student-athletes rank among the best in the nation according to the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) Report, released Thursday, Dec. 2.

The university received an overall score of 97%, tying for third place among all Division I universities in the nation, along with an impressive group of peer institutions that include Vanderbilt University, the University of Notre Dame and Colgate University.

Samford ranked first amongst Division I schools in Alabama and tied with Wofford College for first in the Southern Conference.

"Our student-athletes have continued to work hard to do things the right way both in the classroom and in competition," said Paige Mathis, Samford's assistant director of athletics for academics. "The scores they have earned continue to be impressive and have always been a source of pride for our department. We know our student-athletes will continue to put in the work needed to post these high scores in the years to come."

The university has a long history of performing at a high level for its combination of excellence in both academics and athletic competition and has consistently earned an overall GSR score of above 90 percent since 2012.

Ten of Samford's teams earned perfect scores of 100%. These include baseball, men's basketball, men's golf, men's tennis, women's basketball, women's golf, soccer, softball, women's tennis and volleyball.

The NCAA developed the Division I Graduation Success Rate in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today. The graduation-rate data are based on a six-year cohort prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education.

Samford competes in 17 NCAA Division I sports in the historic Southern Conference.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.