Top-ranked Ohio State and Southern California, the 2004 national champion, both came in at 55 percent.

Last season’s national basketball champion, Florida, received a perfect 100 percent from the NCAA, while last year’s women’s basketball champion, Maryland, was at 71 percent.

“The good news is we are continuing to make overall progress,” Brand said. “The trend lines are up and, with a few exceptions, the academic reforms we are continuing to lay, even in sports like football and basketball which historically lag, are showing progress.”

Sports with the highest percentage of graduates were all on the women’s side: fencing, field hockey, gymnastics and skiing all had a 94 percent graduation rate. Women’s lacrosse was next at 93 percent, and women’s swimming was 91 percent. Only one sport, women’s bowling, produced a number lower than the national average — 70 percent.

No men’s sport topped 90 percent.

The highest rated men’s sports were skiing (89 percent), lacrosse (88 percent), fencing (87 percent), gymnastics (86 percent) and water polo (85 percent). Men’s ice hockey, men’s swimming and men’s tennis also topped 80 percent.

Eighteen of the sports equaled the national improvement with a 1 percentage point increase over last year. Six sports showed no change. Only four sports — men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s water polo and women’s bowling had lower graduation rates. Both lacrosse teams dropped by 1 percentage point, while men’s water polo and women’s bowling each had 2-point decreases.

Women’s rifle, which improved from 73 percent to 78 percent, had the largest one-year gain. Men’s ice hockey and men’s skiing were next with 4-point increases followed by wrestling, which went from 66 percent to 69 percent.

The NCAA plans to release overall graduation rates for each school later this year.

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