Last Wednesday, the NCAA released Graduation Success Rates (GSR) for players who entered school in 2003, and Northwestern football again finished first in the Big Ten with a GSR of 95.

“I am so proud of our young men!”, tweeted head coach Pat Fitzgerald, with a link to the NCAA report.

Overall, NU’s 19 athletic programs achieved a 97 GSR – including 10 sports that achieved a perfect 100 rating. “The number one goal of our coaches and staff at Northwestern is to provide a world class experience,” athletic director Jim Phillips said in a press release. “It is a source of great pride that we remain a leader among our peers in graduating our student-athletes.”

NU football has finished first in the Big Ten all six years the NCAA has released reports. This year, NU’s GSR of 95 was 11 points above the second-place finisher – NU’s opponent this week, Penn State – and 26 percentage points above the national average of 69 percent. The only football program with a better GSR was Notre Dame, which finished one point higher with a 96.

NU men’s basketball earned a 90, 24 points higher than the national average, but second in the conference behind Illinois, who earned a perfect score of 100.