UCLA football graduation rate jumps to second in Pac-12

The NCAA released its latest graduation success rates this morning, and UCLA’s football numbers looked good.

The Bruins’ jumped from a 62 percent graduation rate in the 2005 cohort — seventh in the Pac-12 — to 82 percent in the newest figures, only behind Stanford.

These numbers, are, however, fairly old. The 2006 cohort accounts for freshmen that entered the school from 2003 to 2006. Some of players responsible for the numbers played for Rick Neuheisel, Jim Mora’s predecessor, but all started their careers under Karl Dorrell.

You can see the full Pac-12 football rankings from 2005 and 2006 here. (Note: You can also see federal graduate rates there, but those don’t account for transfers.) The Cardinal lead the conference with a 93 percent graduation success rate, fifth-best among FBS schools. USC is second-to-last in the conference at 53 percent. Cal is last among FBS schools at a dismal 44 percent.

The NCAA average for FBS football programs was 71 percent.

UCLA’s basketball graduation rate is less encouraging. The Bruins graduated 60 percent of its 2006 cohort, ahead of only USC (55 percent) and Cal (38 percent). UCLA sat at 70 percent for its 2005 cohort.