The National Collegiate Athletic Association lists the University's student-athlete graduation rate at 69 percent, up from 67.6 percent for 2000-01.
Nationally, the student-athlete graduation rate for Div. I participants reached an all-time high this year, with 60 percent of the country's athletes graduating, according to the NCAA.
The organization tracked the class of scholarship athletes entering the University in the 1995-96 academic year and graduating within six years.
John Blanchard, director of UNC's academic support program for student-athletes, cited the University's academically inclined atmosphere as contributing to consistently high graduation rates.
"In order to be successful, it's important to have an environment and culture that supports academics," Blanchard said.
He said students who transfer from UNC to play at another school are counted by the NCAA as having failed to graduate. Similarly, athletes who leave school early to play professionally are classified as non-graduates.
Women's soccer players who are drafted by the professional women's soccer league before the spring semester of their senior years are among those reported as failing to graduate, Blanchard said.
He praised UNC's athletes for their dedication to learning. "We are very proud of our student-athletes in their ability to achieve both on the field and in the classroom."
Doug Dibbert, General Alumni Association president and member of the Knight Commission, a group that studies collegiate athletics, spoke of UNC's commitment to its athletes. "Our program has had a longtime focus on making sure that athletes know they are students," he said.
