The numbers on the scoreboard are not the only scores Longhorn athletes have to worry about.
A report released Wednesday by the NCAA stated that 77 percent of all athletes who entered college between the years 1997 and 2000 graduated within six years of enrolling. That number is unchanged from last year's data, the report said.
UT women's basketball, golf, volleyball, tennis and men's tennis programs all had a 100 percent graduation rate, according to the report.
Men's head tennis coach Michael Center said he expects his athletes to maintain a 3.0 grade point average.
"It's not easy and can be very time-demanding to be a student-athlete here," Center said. "Here at Texas, we keep track of wins and losses very closely. But you have to be ready to compete in the classroom too, because the students here are the best of the best. We have to compete in both."
However, UT men's basketball had a 33 percent graduation rate, compared to Texas A&M's
40 percent, Texas Tech University's 44 percent and University of Oklahoma's 46 percent.
The overall graduation rate for Division I Men's basketball is 63.6 percent, the report said. The rate in 1998 was 59 percent.
UT football, with its 42 percent graduation rate, ranks last in the Big 12. OU football is a close second-to-last at 44 percent. Baylor is ranked first in the conference with an 84 percent graduation rate among its football players.
"The coaches and administration at the University of Texas work hard to emphasize the importance of graduation to our student-athletes, and we are encouraged at the academic progress we are making," Men's Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds said in a written statement. "We have an outstanding record of graduating student-athletes who enter this University as freshman and exhaust their eligibility here."
The NCAA could not be reached for comment.
The overall graduation rate for football players in Division I-A is now 66.6 percent. The rate was 63 percent in 1995, according to the report.
Dodds said an NCAA report to be published in December will show that all of the UT sports will have met the benchmark set by the NCAA.
Elizabeth Tinnon, a communication senior who is also a member of the women's swim team, says the academic advisors, tutors and the study center for athletes have helped her to maintain the 3.0 GPA that her coach requires. Women's swimming has an
84 percent graduation rate, whereas men's is 91 percent.
"Swimming teaches us discipline, and everyone wants to be good students too," Tinnon said. "But, above everything else, we are here to get an education. Our work ethic that we have learned over time has helped us with our school work."
The four-year graduation rate for all UT students increased to 48.1 percent, up from 46.9 percent in 2001. The six-year graduation rate increased slightly to 76.9 percent, from 75.1 percent in 1999. According to the UT Statistical Handbook, the University's cumulative GPA for all undergraduates as of fall semester 2006 was 3.21.
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