Graduation rates climb at Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas student-athletes in all sports had a 72 percent graduation rate for the latest four-year reporting period, according to statistics released by the NCAA this week.

The statistics reflect student athletes who enrolled at Arkansas from 2000-2003 and whether they graduated within a six-year span.

Arkansas has improved its graduation rate each of the past six years, from 60 to 72 percent, according to a UA news release.

While the Razorbacks’ overall numbers are good, Arkansas is lagging behind in the SEC in football and men’s basketball, the primary revenue-producing sports.

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Arkansas’ football graduate rate of 55 percent for the reporting period covering 2000-2003 enrollees is 11th in the 12-team SEC. Tennessee is last at 53 percent.

Arkansas is last in men’s basketball at 22 percent.

Vanderbilt, the SEC’s only private school, has the conference’s top graduation rates in football (89 percent) and men’s basketball (93 percent).

Among public universities, Georgia has the SEC’s top graduation rate for football (68 percent) and Alabama has the top rate for men’s basketball (75 percent).