The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - Division I college athletes are graduating at a record rate of 62 percent and are more likely to graduate than non-athletes, according to an NCAA study released Tuesday.

The report showed athletes with a 2 percentage-point overall increase in the graduation rate compared with last year, and a 3-point advantage over the rate of non-athletes. The study covered athletes on scholarship who entered college in 1996 and measured the percentage of students who graduated within six years.

Numbers for area schools:

• University of Cincinnati: 49 percent overall, 61 percent athletes;

• Xavier: 71 percent; 66 percent;

• Miami: 81 percent; 70 percent;

• Dayton: 76 percent; 86 percent;

• Kentucky: 58 percent; 48 percent;

• Ohio State: 59 percent; 60 percent.

National numbers showed almost across-the-board increases. The only declines were among white male basketball players (52 percent) and white football players (61 percent). Both rates fell 1 percentage point.

Female athletes had a 70 percent graduation rate, a 1 point increase from last year, according to the NCAA study. Male athletes were at 55 percent, also a 1 point increase.

The greatest progress came in men's basketball, where scores traditionally have been the lowest.

The report showed a 6 percentage-point improvement to 42 percent among all men's basketball players and a 10 point increase, from 28 to 38 percent, among black players in Division I-A. Two years ago, black male basketball players graduated only 24 percent of the time.

Men's basketball numbers for UC, Xavier, Miami and UK could not be reported; incoming classes were small, and the data would compromise individual players' privacy.

Men's basketball players continued to lag other sports in the study - football, women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, and men's and women's track and field.