University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Place Among Top 10 Nationally in Graduation Success Rate
11/19/2025 | General, Compliance, Spider Athletic Fund, Academic Services, Spider Performance
RICHMOND, Va. — Spider student-athletes earned their undergraduate degrees or transferred from Richmond in good academic standing at levels that rank among the highest in all of Division I athletics, according to the most recent data released Wednesday by the NCAA. 98 percent of student-athletes entering Richmond from 2015-16 through 2018-19 earned their degree within six years, matching the University's highest rate since the introduction of Graduation Success Rates (GSR) in 1998.
Richmond's 98 percent Graduation Success Rate is tied for ninth highest among all Division I institutions, trailing only Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Marquette, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and San Francisco. UR and Davidson are among the eight schools to record Graduation Success Rates of 98 percent, tied for the best among the 14 schools in the Atlantic 10 conference.
"We're proud of our GSR ranking, but it's the many stories behind it that truly define us as Richmond Spiders," said Associate Athletics Director for Academic Support & Student Services Bruce Matthews. "Our Spider athletes are smart, tenacious, and tough – qualities strengthened by the support of their Richmond peers, faculty, and coaches. Because of this, we should take a moment to appreciate how uniquely situated we are in collegiate athletics."
Richmond's 98 percent GSR is well above the national average of 90 percent. 11 of Richmond's 15 varsity sport programs (cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field teams are counted as one program for the purposes of the GSR) achieved perfect 100 percent GSR ratings: baseball, field hockey, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's golf, men's tennis, women's cross country/track & field, women's golf, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, and women's swimming & diving. All of Richmond's 15 programs achieved GSR ratings of 86 percent or higher.
The GSR differs from the federal graduation-rate formula in that the GSR factors in transfer students who go on to graduate at a different institution and does not penalize schools for transfers who leave in good academic standing.
Each spring, the NCAA releases a separate set of data, called the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which measures both academic performance and retention. Each program receives an APR score, with teams falling under a certain threshold subject to penalties such as loss of scholarships and postseason bans. In the latest round of APR data, released in May, six Richmond programs received perfect scores of 1,000: field hockey, men's cross country, men's golf, women's basketball, women's golf, and women's swimming & diving.
Richmond's 98 percent Graduation Success Rate is tied for ninth highest among all Division I institutions, trailing only Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Marquette, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and San Francisco. UR and Davidson are among the eight schools to record Graduation Success Rates of 98 percent, tied for the best among the 14 schools in the Atlantic 10 conference.
"We're proud of our GSR ranking, but it's the many stories behind it that truly define us as Richmond Spiders," said Associate Athletics Director for Academic Support & Student Services Bruce Matthews. "Our Spider athletes are smart, tenacious, and tough – qualities strengthened by the support of their Richmond peers, faculty, and coaches. Because of this, we should take a moment to appreciate how uniquely situated we are in collegiate athletics."
Richmond's 98 percent GSR is well above the national average of 90 percent. 11 of Richmond's 15 varsity sport programs (cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field teams are counted as one program for the purposes of the GSR) achieved perfect 100 percent GSR ratings: baseball, field hockey, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's golf, men's tennis, women's cross country/track & field, women's golf, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, and women's swimming & diving. All of Richmond's 15 programs achieved GSR ratings of 86 percent or higher.
The GSR differs from the federal graduation-rate formula in that the GSR factors in transfer students who go on to graduate at a different institution and does not penalize schools for transfers who leave in good academic standing.
Each spring, the NCAA releases a separate set of data, called the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which measures both academic performance and retention. Each program receives an APR score, with teams falling under a certain threshold subject to penalties such as loss of scholarships and postseason bans. In the latest round of APR data, released in May, six Richmond programs received perfect scores of 1,000: field hockey, men's cross country, men's golf, women's basketball, women's golf, and women's swimming & diving.
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