INDIANAPOLIS - Forty-two Division II member schools are recipients of the Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence, presented to member schools earning an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher. Ten more schools than last year earned the award, setting an all-time high for the 10-year program.
Three of those member institutions were from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference: Hillsdale College, Trevecca Nazarene University and Cedarville University. All three institutions posted an ASR of 90% or higher.
Hillsdale had the fourth-best mark in Division II with a four-year ASR of 97%. Trevecca Nazarene was also in the top 10 with an ASR of 95% (tied with Point Loma Nazarene University) and Cedarville was in the next tier with an ASR of 94%.
Bentley was again the top performer in the division, turning in a four-year ASR of 99%, followed by Thomas Jefferson University and Saint Michael’s with 98% each.
The Northeast-10 Conference led Division II’s conferences, with seven schools earning the award, followed by the Great Lakes Valley Conference with five and the Sunshine State Conference with four.
“The Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence recognizes Division II member schools for their commitment to a balanced college experience that supports the academic success of college athletes,” said Sandra Jordan, chancellor of the University of South Carolina Aiken and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. “Ten more institutions earned this award than last year, setting an all-time high for this program, but most importantly, this means college athletes at these schools are achieving academic success that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.”
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 nonscholarship 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 2010 to 2013 is 74%.
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 2013 entering class of student-athletes graduated at a rate of 62%, compared with 53% for the general student body.
Schools receiving the Presidents’ Award are:
| School |
Four-Year ASR |
Conference |
| Bentley University |
99 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| Saint Michael’s College |
98 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| Thomas Jefferson University |
98 |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
| Hillsdale College |
97 |
Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
| Biola University |
96 |
Pacific West Conference |
| Rollins College |
96 |
Sunshine State Conference |
| Point Loma Nazarene University |
95 |
Pacific West Conference |
| Trevecca Nazarene University |
95 |
Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
| Seattle Pacific University |
94 |
Great Northwest Athletic Conference |
| Dominican University of California |
94 |
Pacific West Conference |
| Cedarville University |
94 |
Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
| Eckerd College |
94 |
Sunshine State Conference |
| Rockhurst University |
94 |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
| Maryville University of Saint Louis |
94 |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
| Davenport University |
93 |
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| Regis University (Colorado) |
93 |
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference |
| University of the Sciences |
93 |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
| Stonehill College |
92 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| Flagler College |
92 |
Peach Belt Conference |
| William Jewell College |
92 |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
| Le Moyne College |
91 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| St. Edward’s University |
91 |
Lone Star Conference |
| Mercyhurst University |
91 |
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference |
| Assumption University |
91 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| Southern Wesleyan University |
91 |
Conference Carolinas |
| St. Thomas Aquinas College |
91 |
East Coast Conference |
| Adelphi University |
91 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| Lewis University |
91 |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
| Florida Southern College |
91 |
Sunshine State Conference |
| Barry University |
91 |
Sunshine State Conference |
| University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon |
91 |
Independent |
| Concordia University, St. Paul |
91 |
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference |
| Michigan Technological University |
91 |
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| Saint Anselm College |
90 |
Northeast-10 Conference |
| Western Washington University |
90 |
Great Northwest Athletic Conference |
| Davis & Elkins College |
90 |
Mountain East Conference |
| Truman State University |
90 |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
| Converse College |
90 |
Conference Carolinas |
| West Chester University of Pennsylvania |
90 |
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference |
| Daemen College |
90 |
East Coast Conference |
| Caldwell University |
90 |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
| Georgia College |
90 |
Peach Belt Conference |