University of Nevada student-athletes continue to post strong marks in the classroom as the Wolf Pack’s Graduation Success Rate matched the third highest score in the history of the program with a 79 percent, according to the annual GSR report and date released by the NCAA today.

“The academic success of our student-athletes is a fundamental priority of our athletics department and we are proud of the continuing achievement by our students,” said athletics director Doug Knuth. “We serve the academic mission of our great University and we’re grateful for the support from the administration and academic units across our campus. Our coaches and staff are committed to education and academic achievement and we are thankful for their contributions.”

This is the 12th year that the NCAA has calculated data for the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and the Wolf Pack’s rate has risen eight times in that span. The Wolf Pack’s first score was 62 percent in 2005 and the GSR has hit a high-water mark of 80 percent twice in the history of the program. Overall, Nevada has seen more than 700 of its student-athletes graduate in the past 11 years.

“Our student-athletes continue to achieve academic success and this is reflection of the strong focus and commitment our coaches, athletics support staff and the student-athletes themselves,” said University president Marc Johnson. “We are proud of the athletic achievement from our student-athletes but we are proudest as they go on to earn college degrees and successful careers.”

This year’s GSR is based on student-athletes who began enrollment in the fall of 2009 or the spring of 2010 and received athletic aid in their first year of college. The Graduation Success Rate was developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to more accurately assess the academic success of student-athletes.

Unlike the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR), the Graduation Success Rate holds institutions accountable for transfer student-athletes, includes mid-year enrollees, and is calculated for every sport. The FGR for Nevada's student-athletes came in at 63 percent for this cohort. That number has also increased overall, from 47 percent in 2007, to a school-best 68 percent in last year’s data. The FGR measures only those students who complete a degree from their initial school and counts all transfer students as academic failures.

The average GSR for this cohort among Mountain West schools was 80 percent and the average federal rate amongst MW schools was 62 percent.