Sept. 10, 2001

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena College again placed well above the national average in graduating its student-athletes according to the most recent report released today by the NCAA. The data, which covers all Division I student-athletes who entered college in 1994, indicated that the national graduation rate remained steady at 57 or 58 percent. Siena's graduation rate over the same time period was 80 percent.

The NCAA report, also listed a four-class average, which considers the graduation rates the school has amassed over the past four reports. Siena, which ranked in the top-10 nationally in each of the past two years, boasted an 82% four-class average graduation rate.

Notably, the most recent Siena student-athlete graduation rate of 80% was seven percent higher than the graduation rate of the entire student body over the same time period. This marked the fourth consecutive year that Siena's student-athletes have graduated at a higher rate than the general student population.

The women's basketball team graduated 100% of the scholarship student-athletes who entered the program in 1994-95, tying for the national high. The men's basketball team had a 67% graduation rate over the same time period, still well above the national mark. The 1994-95 cohort rate for Division I male basketball players was 40%.

"We take pride in the performance of our student-athletes at Siena," said Director of Athletics John D'Argenio. "The success of our student-athletes in the classroom, however, is most important. For our student-athletes to again perform among the best in the nation academically is impressive."

The report, which only considers those student-athletes receiving athletic aid, yielded a 98 percent graduation rate among Siena student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility. Athletes exhausting their eligibility are those who participated as scholarship athletes at Siena for a total of four years. Of the 88 athletes who qualified for exhausted eligibility, 87 graduated.

The NCAA will not be releasing a national comparison this year, however, graduation rates of all Division I institution may be accessed by visiting the NCAA's website at www.ncaa.org/grad_rates. The report will not be distributed as a printed book or a CD-Rom.