MORAGA, Calif. -- Saint Mary's student-athletes graduate at the third-highest rate among all Division I institutions in the state of California, according to figures released recently by the NCAA.

In addition, using the organization's Graduation Success Rate data for the incoming freshman class of 2005-06, one-half of the intercollegiate athletic teams at Saint Mary's have the highest graduation rate among their peers in the West Coast Conference.

"We are proud of the dedication and commitment of our student-athletes in the classroom, on the field and in life," said SMC Director of Athletics Mark Orr. "Our coaches frequently talk about 'fit' and how having the right student-athletes make a program successful. The recent NCAA graduation success rate report, combined with the fact that most of our teams are winning at some of the highest rates in school history, shows that we have student-athletes that reflect the educational mission of the College."

Saint Mary's student-athletes that entered the College in the fall of 2005 graduated a rate of 92 percent according to the GSR, which includes transfer students and student-athletes who leave in good academic standing, unlike the federal graduation rate, which does not count transfers. The GSR and federal rate calculations measure graduation over six years from first-time college enrollment.

The SMC baseball, women's basketball, men's golf, women's lacrosse, men and women's cross country/track and women's rowing teams each registered the highest GSR among the nine WCC institutions. Five of those teams recorded perfect 100 percent rates.

The Saint Mary's men's basketball team registered the second-highest GSR in the WCC, graduating 92 percent of the athletes that entered school in the fall of 2005. The national average for men's basketball student-athletes is 74 percent.

Stanford University is the state leader in GSR, graduating 96 percent of its student-athletes. The Division I average GSR is 80 percent.

The federal graduation rate, while less inclusive than the GSR, provides the only measure of historic academic comparison between student-athletes and the general student body. By this standard, student-athletes consistently outperform nearly all their peers in the student body.

The latest data show that Division I student-athletes who entered college in 2005 equaled their highest federal graduation rate of 65 percent – 2 percentage points higher than the general student body at Division I institutions.