Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine achieved an NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 82 percent, including five teams with 88 percent or higher, as announced by the NCAA.

The women's cross country & track & field program and softball led the way, each achieving a perfect 100 percent GSR for the 2013-16 Cohorts. Women's basketball (90), women's ice hockey (89), and women's swimming (88) rounded out Maine's top GSR marks.

The Black Bear student-athlete GSR of 82 percent exceeded the federal graduation rate (FGR) of the overall student population (57%).

The NCAA developed the Division I Graduation Success Rate in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today.

Both the Graduation Success Rate and the Academic Success Rate account for the academic outcomes of student-athletes who transfer from one institution to another. The rate compiled using the federal government's methodology does not count transfers in and counts transfers out as graduation failures. Regardless of which rate is used, student-athletes are shown to graduate at a higher rate than their peers in the general student body.

-UMaine-