Thursday, May 17, 2012

Twenty-four Division II schools, including Seattle Pacific, 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.

St. Michael's College, a member of the Northeast-10 Conference, achieved the highest four-year ASR, graduating 99 percent of its student-athletes within six years of original enrollment. Seattle Pacific ranked fourth with a 97 percent rank.

“Our No. 1 priority is to graduate student-athletes. Our coaches stress this in our recruiting process, and the expectation is paramount,” said Erin O'Connell, SPU's athletic director.

“I could not be prouder of our student-athletes as a whole, and our coaches and administrators tasked with following their progress. Not only do we excel in the classroom, but in competition, as well. We take to heart the D-2 philosophy of a balanced student-athlete.”

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 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.