WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross' athletic teams are tied for sixth in the nation with an overall graduation rate of 98 percent, according to the Graduation Success Rate Report which has been released by the NCAA. This marks the 16th consecutive year in which the Crusaders have posted a Graduation Success Rate of at least 97 percent.

"Our outstanding NCAA graduation success rate reflects the commitment from the Holy Cross community to uphold the student-athlete model at the highest level," said Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator Rose Shea. "We celebrate our student-athletes' achievement and remain grateful for the unwavering support they receive from our administration, faculty, coaches and staff."

"The excellent numbers reported by the NCAA speak volumes about the expectations Holy Cross sets for all of its students and the ways in which each and every Crusader rises up to meet them," said Holy Cross Faculty Athletics Representative Sarah Petty. "They truly know how to prioritize the 'student' part of their student-athlete identities by committing themselves every day to their academic pursuits. These statistics also remind me to be grateful for the many staff, faculty and administrators that are dedicated to supporting our student-athletes and helping them to find the right balance between academics and athletics, so that they can reach their full potential in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena."

Holy Cross finished in a 12-way tie for sixth in the nation with its 98 percent Graduation Success Rate. The 11 schools to match the Crusaders at 98 percent were Belmont, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Lafayette, Northwestern, Princeton, Samford and Santa Clara. Columbia led the nation at 100 percent, while Bucknell, Harvard, Villanova and Yale tied for second at 99 percent.

Twenty-three of a possible 26 Holy Cross athletic teams achieved a perfect 100 percent graduation rate. The Crusader programs to post perfect graduation rates were baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, women's rowing, women's soccer, softball, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field, and volleyball. 

The data reflect the six-year graduation rates for college athletes who entered school in 2015, for which the NCAA has compiled sport-by-sport figures. The average Graduation Success Rate for all sports at the NCAA's 351 Division I institutions stood at 89 percent. 

View the complete NCAA report on Holy Cross' Graduation Success Rates, or access the NCAA's searchable Graduation Success Rate database for more information.

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