The Kansas University athletic department Monday released its annual graduation-rate report, and for the second straight year, the university recorded a graduation success rate of 70 percent of its student athletes, meeting the NCAA’s goal exactly.

The report is based on a four-year average of student-athletes who arrived at the school in the fall of ’98, ’99, ’00 and ’01.

According to the report, KU’s men’s basketball team graduated 64 percent of its athletes over the four-year period, with football graduating 53 percent. None of the athletes analyzed were members of the recruiting classes of men’s basketball coach Bill Self or football coach Mark Mangino.

Women’s basketball, meanwhile, recorded a 42 percent graduation rate, although those athletes were recruited by former coach Marian Washington.

The overall student-athlete graduation rate in the report – which is different from the graduation success rate in that it does not include transfers in or out of the school – was 59 percent, compared to 60 percent of non-student-athletes.

Monday’s report acts as a kind of precursor to a more current, and pertinent, study. That comes next spring, when the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rate is released. Unlike the school’s graduation rates released Monday, the APR examines academic performance from just one year and comes with penalties if requirements are not met.

Last year, the KU football team’s score of 919 was below the NCAA’s penalty-free requirement of 925. In addition, KU had two players leave the program in poor academic standing, and had to give up two scholarships in the 2008 recruiting class.

School officials said Monday they were optimistic about the release of this year’s APR.

“Our APR is going to look very good,” said Paul Buskirk, associate athletic director in charge of student-athlete support services. “I can tell you that.”