Division I graduation rates are at a record high, according to the annual Graduation Success Rate study released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tuesday.

According to the study, Division I student athletes who entered college in 2001 had an average 79 percent success rate of finishing their four-year degrees, and the average graduation rate for student athletes who entered college between 1998 and 2001 was 78 percent. Both of these figures are up 1 percent from last year.

Erik Christianson, spokesperson for the NCAA, said the study includes every Division I school, tracking the athletes over a six-year window.

Christianson added the NCAA’s study is more accurate than the federal graduation rate because the NCAA counts transfer students in their data, something the federal rate does not account for.

The NCAA surveyed student athletes over a longer period, Christianson said, and found almost 90 percent had earned their degrees within 10 years. He said data like this helps to disprove common misconceptions about student athletes.

“This shows that the stereotype that student athletes are dumb jocks just there for athletics and not interested in finishing their degree is simply not true,” Christianson said.

Vince Sweeney, associate athletic director at UW, said one of the greatest challenges facing the 850 student athletes at UW is the “dual life” of athletics and academics they have to lead, as well as time management.

“When they’re competing at a Division 1 level, that takes a lot of time, a lot of energy,” Sweeney said. “There’s a lot of pressure and a lot of stress, and that’s on top of the normal pressure and stress of being a student here.”

According to Christianson, the survey is part of the NCAA’s academic reform initiative, which aims to improve the academics of student athletes, especially Division I.

Aspects of the initiative include increasing the preparation of prospective Division I student athletes by requiring them to meet certain criteria while still in high school, as well as increasing academic standards for student athletes on campus.

The NCAA also recently implemented a program called the Academic Progress Rate, a year-by-year measurement of how well student athletes are doing in the classroom. This is generally reported to athletic department officials for each event, according to Christianson.

“It allows a coach or athletic director to see what’s happening with a specific team, to see if they’re going to class and doing what they need to be doing,” Christianson said. “Rates have been improving over the past several years, and we are hopeful, as our reforms are being implemented, that they will continue to grow,” Christianson said.

Sweeney said the UW athletic department takes ideas from a variety of sources to help their student athletes succeed academically.