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So, twenty programs were perfect, and five more programs exceeded 90%. Varsity programs that were not listed as being either perfect or north of 90% include:
* men's cross country/track and field
* men's rowing
* sailing
* men's soccer
* beach volleyball
* lightweight rowing
* squash
* synchronized swimming
That said, I believe the NCAA doesn't sponsor sailing, men's rowing, lightweight rowing, squash, or synchro, so that's presumably why those programs aren't listed. And since beach volleyball was only sponsored by the NCAA starting in 2016, it makes sense that they wouldn't be listed yet. That leaves men's soccer and men's cross country/T&F as the worst GSR offenders, unless I'm misreading something. Anyone have any ideas what's going on with those particular programs?
I certainly wouldn't want to single out individual students who don't end up getting a degree, but a footnote to explain how players going pro early (but being in good academic standing when they left) affects the rate would be useful, primarily in football. Something like "Stanford's football GSR would have been X% if not for the early departures of [list players], all of whom left for the NFL prior to graduating but who were in good academic standing when they left and have expressed their intent to complete their degrees."
(While GSR includes student-athletes who transfer in good academic standing, it's not clear to me whether it includes student-athletes who leave school early to pursue professional opportunities, like Christian McCaffrey, Kaden Smith, Justin Reid, etc., but who leave in good standing. Can anyone confirm that it does or doesn't? This line from the Stanford post--"The Graduation Success Rate excludes from the calculation student-athletes who leave an institution who are academically eligible to compete such as transfer students"--could exclude such student-athletes as written, but I'd thought that the calculation treated transfer students differently than folks who leave early to go pro.)