PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley Athletics remains a leader in the Graduation Success Rate of its student-athletes, a fact that was confirmed again Wednesday with the NCAA's annual release of GSR data.  While the Graduation Success Rate for all student-athletes across the country who began college in 2003 is 79 percent, Bradley University student-athletes graduated at a 94 percent rate.

"Bradley's student athletes, coaches and staff continue to demonstrate that education is a priority in their lives and a core value of the Bradley student athlete's experience," said Bradley Director of Athletics Dr. Michael Cross.  "These measurements provide positive affirmation of our commitment to education while challenging us to maintain this dedication in the future.  We commend our coaches, staff, Bradley faculty and student-athletes for their seriousness of purpose in achieving the ultimate measure of success - a Bradley degree."

"I applaud our student-athletes for their continued dedication to achieving the ultimate goal of graduation," said Jennifer Jones, Bradley Assistant Athletic Director for Academics and Student Welfare.  The GSR reflects not only their hard work and commitment, but also the tremendous support they receive along the way from their families, coaches, administration, faculty and staff.  The entire Bradley community should be proud of this achievement."

Bradley's most-recent GSR ranks second among both the 12 NCAA Division I schools in the state of Illinois, as well as the 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools, trailing only Northwestern (97) and Creighton (95), respectively.

Among individual sports, Bradley led The Valley in GSR for Baseball (91), Women's Cross Country/Track (100), Men's Golf (100), Women's Golf (100), Soccer (90), Men's Tennis (100), Women's Tennis (100) and Volleyball (100).

Of the 63 NCAA Division I schools in the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin, Bradley's overall GSR ranked fifth.  While the sports of Women's Cross Country/Track, Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis and Volleyball all shared the top spot in their respective sports with their perfect GSR scores, the Bradley Men's Basketball Team (92) ranked sixth among the 63 Midwestern programs.  Baseball (91) ranked eighth among the 52 Midwestern schools that sponsor the sport and Soccer also ranked eighth among the 39 Midwestern schools sponsoring the sport.