CHICAGO (November 17, 2020) – For the third time in the last five years, Loyola University Chicago finds itself tied for the No. 1 spot in the nation with a 99 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) according to data released today by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Ramblers also ranked tied for first in the nation in 2016 and 2017 with a 99 percent GSR and that 99 percent figure placed tied for second in the country in each of the last two years.  
 
This marks the fifth consecutive year that Loyola has posted a 99 percent GSR and that mark ranks tied atop all scores in NCAA Division I with eight other schools – Columbia University, Dartmouth College, University of Evansville, Harvard University, College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Samford University and Yale University.
 
Loyola's most recent GSR mark ranks tied for first, along with Evansville, among Missouri Valley Conference institutions and tied for first among Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) with Holy Cross. The 99 percent GSR also tops all NCAA Division I institutions in the state of Illinois, just ahead of Northwestern (98 percent).
 
Thirteen of Loyola's 15 programs posted perfect scores for the current cohort: men's golf, men's cross country/track and field, men's soccer, men's volleyball, women's cross country/track and field, women's golf, women's soccer, softball, and women's volleyball.
 
"Loyola student-athletes have high standards both in competition and in the classroom and continue to meet, or exceed, those benchmarks on an annual basis," Loyola Director of Athletics Steve Watson said. "These last few months have been especially challenging, but our student-athletes have overcome adversity and performed exceptionally well academically, posting a 3.695 grade-point average in the Spring 2020 term. Another GSR No. 1 ranking is also a credit to the work of our academic services staff and to our coaches who have successfully recruited the kind of student-athletes that can achieve greatness, both athletically and academically, at Loyola."
 
During the 2019-20 academic year, Loyola won Missouri Valley Conference championships in women's cross country, women's soccer and men's soccer, while the men's basketball and women's volleyball teams finished runner-up in their respective league races. Loyola was one of only 16 NCAA Division I programs to have both its men's and women's soccer teams reach the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and sophomore Anneka Murrin captured the MVC Women's Cross Country Championship individual crown. Two Ramblers – Marius Kullmann (men's soccer) and Riley DeMeulenaere (men's cross county/track and field) – were named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
 
Developed to more accurately assess the long-term academic success of student-athletes, the GSR holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every sport. Under the calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. The outgoing transfers are included in the receiving institution's cohort.
 
The most recent Division I Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering classes from 2010-13. The NCAA began compiling these figures with the entering freshman class of 1995.