The NCAA released the latest Division I graduation rate data, including the division's Graduation Success Rate (GSR), which held good news for the University of Hartford Department of Athletics. 

Three of Hartford's 11 teams measured in the report had scores of 100 percent, and Hartford student-athletes cumulatively achieved a 94 percent GSR score in the data compiled from the 2008-2011 cohorts that make up this year's report.

The Hawks' three teams which reached 100 percent GSR included women's golf, softball and volleyball.

Hartford's GSR of 94 percent is an all-time high for the Hawks, improving by two percentage points since the previous year's report (92 percent). The new rate also ranks the Hawks six percentage points higher than the national average (88 percent).

Tied for 44th among the list of 352 Division I institutions, Hartford's GSR of 94 percent ranks the Hawks in the top 13 percent of Division I schools and puts them at the top of the America East. New Hampshire and Vermont both trail Hartford with Graduation Success Rates of 93 percent.

The national GSR for the entering class of 2011 increased one point to 88 percent. The Division I Board of Directors created the GSR in an effort to gather data that more accurately reflected the mobility of college students than the federal graduation rate. The federal rate counts any student who leaves a school as an academic failure, no matter whether he or she enrolls at another school. Also, the federal rate does not recognize students who enter school as transfer students. 

The GSR formula removes from the rate student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible and includes student-athletes who transfer to a school after initially enrolling elsewhere. This calculation makes it a more complete and accurate look at student-athlete success.