University Moving To Higher Division To Increase Graduation Rates
By: Marlisa Goldsmith
Updated: May 2, 2012
Moving to NCAA Division II is a change that has everyone excited.
"Division III, you think okay, I got it from a Division III university. When you think D-II or D-I, you're thinking okay, I got it from a pretty substantial university. It's not just some low life junior college," says Jarrett Hall, a student at McMurry University.
The current graduation rate at McMurry University is about 43%.
"It could be better. I was kind of expecting 75-80, something like that," Hall continues.
This freshman was a little surprised to hear that percentage based on the students that entered the school during the 2004-2005 school year, but it is even lower for student athletes.
"If we have a 43% graduation rate for everybody, student athletes are right about 38%," says Dr. Joel Brant, a faculty athletic representative for the university.
Another student, Zachry Leverton, says, "It's real easy to just, well I'm not going to go anymore, or for whatever reasons."
That may be one student's perspective, but Brant says the main reason is the fact that McMurry University is an NCAA Division III school.
Brant says, "One of the fun things about division three is, as a student athlete you have the right to self-release from an institution and go to another institution and play almost immediately."
Which contributes to the university's graduation rate going down.
Brant continues, "The driving force to move to D-II was the decision, what effect is it going to have on our academics? What effect is it going to have on our retention rate? Graduation rate?"
Both students and faculty members can agree that the move will produce the results everyone wants.
"When you think d-2, you think people are going to come in with a lot more smarts, then we're going to get all the people with better GPAs that have the motivation and have everything else to bring us up to 75 and 80%," says Hall.
"Division III, you think okay, I got it from a Division III university. When you think D-II or D-I, you're thinking okay, I got it from a pretty substantial university. It's not just some low life junior college," says Jarrett Hall, a student at McMurry University.
The current graduation rate at McMurry University is about 43%.
"It could be better. I was kind of expecting 75-80, something like that," Hall continues.
This freshman was a little surprised to hear that percentage based on the students that entered the school during the 2004-2005 school year, but it is even lower for student athletes.
"If we have a 43% graduation rate for everybody, student athletes are right about 38%," says Dr. Joel Brant, a faculty athletic representative for the university.
Another student, Zachry Leverton, says, "It's real easy to just, well I'm not going to go anymore, or for whatever reasons."
That may be one student's perspective, but Brant says the main reason is the fact that McMurry University is an NCAA Division III school.
Brant says, "One of the fun things about division three is, as a student athlete you have the right to self-release from an institution and go to another institution and play almost immediately."
Which contributes to the university's graduation rate going down.
Brant continues, "The driving force to move to D-II was the decision, what effect is it going to have on our academics? What effect is it going to have on our retention rate? Graduation rate?"
Both students and faculty members can agree that the move will produce the results everyone wants.
"When you think d-2, you think people are going to come in with a lot more smarts, then we're going to get all the people with better GPAs that have the motivation and have everything else to bring us up to 75 and 80%," says Hall.
