Women Athletes Outperform Male Athletes in College Graduation Rates

The graduation rate for all women students at the universities with the largest athletic programs in the nation is 65 percent. This is 4 percentage points higher than the graduation rate for men at these universities. If we look at students on athletic scholarship at these universities, 72 percent of women earn their degrees compared to 58 percent of men on athletic scholarship.

The graduation rate for men on athletic scholarship is lower due to a poor rate of graduation for basketball players. Only 47 percent of male basketball players earn their degree. In contrast, women basketball players have a graduation rate of 64 percent.