Official NCAA Release
INDIANAPOLIS – Cedarville University, Hillsdale College and Trevecca Nazarene University, were commended for achieving high scores with their respective four-year academic success rates, receiving the prestigious NCAA DII Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence.
A total of 32 member institutions from Division II received the award with ASR’s of 90 percent or higher. This is the ninth year of the program.
The three Great Midwest Athletic Conference schools ranked among the nation’s best. Hillsdale was one of six schools tied for fourth with an ASR of 96. Cedarville’s ASR of 93 was also matched with five other schools and Trevecca Nazarene posted an ASR of 91 with three different universities.
“The 32 schools recognized with the Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence are dedicated to supporting the academic success of student-athletes,” said Gary Olson, president of Daemen and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. “What is even more remarkable, 11 of these schools have been recognized each year of this program. We commend the institutions for their commitment to academic excellence and dedication to preparing student-athletes for life after college.”
The Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial collegiate enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes.
Unlike the federal rate, the Division II ASR includes nearly 34,000 non-scholarship student-athletes and accounts for those who transfer to a Division II school after initial enrollment elsewhere, while removing student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible. The national ASR for the four cohorts of student-athletes who entered college from 2009 to 2012 is 73%.
Division II student-athletes continue to graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, the 2012 entering class of student-athletes graduated at a rate of 61%, compared with 52% for the general student body.