Huskies second in Pac-10 in graduation rates

The Washington Huskies are winning in the classroom, if not always on the field.

Washington’s recent graduation success rate among athletes is second-best in the West for a public university, according to NCAA statistics released this week.

The Huskies graduated 84 percent of their athletes for a six-year period ending with the entering class of 2002-03, their highest rate since the NCAA began calculating with what it calls a “graduation success rate” five years ago. The Huskies’ rate is 5 percent higher than the national average in that span, and second in the Pac-10 to Stanford’s 94 percent.

The University of California at Davis was the only public institution on the West Coast with a higher rate for athletes, at 87 percent.

The football team, which hasn’t qualified for a bowl game since 2002, had a 69 percent graduation success rate. That was second-highest in the Pac-10 to Stanford’s 85 percent.

Washington State was fourth among conference football teams at 58 percent.