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Twenty-four Division II schools have been recognized as recipients of the first Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence honoring athletics programs with four-year Academic Success Rates of 90 percent or more. Eckerd, Florida Tech, and Rollins were included on the distinguished list.
The Division II Academic Requirements Committee established the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence to recognize programs achieving long-term academic success. The honor is intended to call attention to those programs and is not intended as a ranking.
The Division II Academic Success Rate measures graduation rates for virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletically related financial aid. Active and provisional member institutions when the data were submitted for 2010-11 were eligible for the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence. The four-year ASR measured the entering cohorts from 2001 to 2004, inclusive.
“The Presidents Council commends all of these programs for this outstanding accomplishment,” said Pat O’Brien, president of West Texas A&M University and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. “Achieving a 90 percent graduation rate over even one year is an impressive accomplishment. To do it over four years says so much about the commitment that these schools have to the academic success of their student-athletes.”
The Division II Academic Success Rate captures about two-third more student-athletes than the federal graduation rate, which does not count incoming transfers, counts outgoing transfers as having not graduated and counts only student-athletes receiving athletically related financial aid. The national four-year ASR average is 72 percent.
Regardless of the measure, Division II student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2004 entering class of student-athletes was 55 percent, compared to 49 percent for the general student body.
Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence
Division II programs with a four-year Academic Success Rate of 90 percent of higher:
• 99 Saint Michael’s
• 98 Stonehill
• 98 University of the Sciences
• 97 Seattle Pacific
• 95 Philadelphia U.
• 95 Rollins
• 95 Truman State
• 95 UC San Diego
• 94 Assumption
• 93 Adelphi
• 93 Hillsdale
• 93 Lincoln (Pa.)
• 93 Molloy
• 93 Rockhurst
• 91 Augustana (S.D.)
• 91 Bellarmine
• 91 Bentley
• 91 Drury
• 91 Eckerd
• 91 Georgian Court
• 91 Colorado-Colorado Springs
• 90 Chestnut Hill
• 90 Florida Tech
• 90 Regis (Colo.)
By conference:
• Northeast-10 - 5
• Central Atlantic - 4
• Great Lakes Valley - 3
• Sunshine State - 3
• Rocky Mountain - 2
• California Collegiate - 1
• CIAA - 1
• East Coast - 1
• Great Lakes Intercollegiate - 1
• Great Northwest - 1
• MIAA - 1
• Northern Sun - 1