The University of South Carolina athletic program tied for third in the Southeastern Conference in the latest Graduation Success Rate, released Wednesday by the NCAA.

The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) measures the number of scholarship student-athletes that graduate within a six-year period of their initial full-time enrollment. For this report, the GSR is based on student-athletes who entered college in the fall of 2017.

South Carolina’s athletic teams had a 94 percent score, which tied with Auburn University and the University of Mississippi in the SEC behind Vanderbilt (96) and Alabama (96). South Carolina’s Football GSR score (95) ranked second among SEC schools and South Carolina schools. It tied for ninth among all Power 5 schools.

“I am so proud of the academic achievements of our student-athletes,” said Athletics Director Ray Tanner.  “Our student-athletes work hard in practice and in games, and they also put in the time with their academics.  We have the staff and resources to help our student-athletes reach their goal of graduation.

An outstanding nine teams scored a perfect GSR (100): Men’s Soccer, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Softball, Women’s Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Track & Field, and Volleyball.

Thirteen of South Carolina’s NCAA-sponsored teams met or exceeded the Division I national average for their sport.

“Once again our student-athletes have demonstrated a strong tradition of academic dedication and tenacity”, said Charlie Ball, Associate AD. “Student-athletes at the University of South Carolina have a competitive edge in the classroom and in their respective sports. We are excited to have the ability to offer notable academic support and provide a one-of-a-kind SEC academic experience.”

A Record of Academic Success

Gamecock Athletics has developed a proud tradition of academic success, achieving numerous honors and reaching high levels of achievement during the 2023-24 academic year.

• Student-athletes at USC ended the Spring 2024 semester with a departmental grade point average (GPA) of 3.37. It was the 35th consecutive semester with a departmental GPA above 3.0.  The cumulative GPA for all student-athletes in each sport since they arrived at Carolina is 3.41, which is the third highest cumulative grade point average ever for Gamecock student-athletes.
• 133 Gamecock student-athletes earned their degrees during the 2023-24 academic year.
• South Carolina had 430 members on the SEC Academic Honor Roll (fall, winter, spring, first-year), which was third in the SEC. Since 2015-16, South Carolina leads all schools with 3,748 members of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.  South Carolina led all schools in SEC Academic Honor Roll in seven of the last nine years (2nd – 2017-18; 3rd – 2023-24).
• Six Gamecocks earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors. It is the first time since 2021 that Gamecocks have had multiple first-team and six overall Academic All-Americans.  The list includes Dylan Taggart, Men’s Track & Field (1st Team / CSC Academic All-America Track & Field Team Member of the Year), Sarah Hamner, Women’s Tennis (1^st Team), Anass Essayi , Men’s Track & Field (2^ndTeam), Cole Messina, Baseball (3^rd Team), Skylar Allen, Beach Volleyball (3^rd Team) and Louise Rydqvist, Women’s Golf (3^rd Team).
• 43 Gamecocks earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors and four earned conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in their respective sports – Dylan Taggart (SEC Indoor & Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year), Louis Rvdqvist (SEC women’s golf), Ayana Akli (SEC women’s tennis) and Skylar Allen (CCSA Beach Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year).