UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., July 11, 2007 ?C Penn State student-athletes continued their outstanding academic achievement during the 2007 spring semester, with more than 375 active student-athletes earning a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, Director of Athletics Tim Curley reported today.
During the most recent semester, 382 student-athletes earned a GPA of 3.0 or above, 58 percent of the 664 young men and women who were members of Penn State's 29 varsity sports this past spring, according to Russ Mushinsky, Director of the Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes. Among the 382 student-athletes with a 3.0, 166 earned a 3.5 GPA or better to gain Dean's List recognition (minimum of 12 credits). The 166 high achievers represented 25 percent of Penn State's active student-athletes.
Penn State's 29 varsity programs earned an average team GPA of 3.05 last semester and 22 teams posted a team GPA of 3.0 or higher, an improvement of three teams over the 2006 spring semester. The cheerleaders and Lionettes dance team also posted team GPAs of 3.0 or better.
??We are very pleased with the consistently outstanding academic performance by our student-athletes,?? Curley said. ??The results are a tribute to the encouragement the Penn State faculty, coaches and academic support personnel provide to our student-athletes and their dedicated efforts to earn a meaningful education.??
- Thirteen Nittany Lions have earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors the past two years, including eight in 2006-07. Linebacker Paul Posluszny was selected the 2006 Academic All-American of the Year in Division I football. Penn State??s 129 Academic All-Americans all-time rank No. 4 nationally among all NCAA institutions. - A total of 245 Nittany Lion student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2006-07, tied for the second-highest total in the 13 years of the program. Penn State??s 2,798 honorees over the past 13 years lead all Big Ten schools. - Penn State student-athletes earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 86 percent compared to a 77 percent average for all Division I institutions, according to NCAA data released in November. Twenty-one of Penn State??s 25 teams earned a GSR score at or above the national average (track and field and cross country are counted as one sport) and 19 teams had a GSR of 80 percent or better. - Among the 1999-2000 entering freshman class, a record-tying 83 percent of Penn State student-athletes earned degrees within six years, compared to 64 percent for all Division I-A institutions, according to the NCAA. For the third time in the past five years, Penn State was tied for the highest graduation rate among the nation??s I-A public institutions. - Penn State??s 81 percent four-year graduation rate is well above the Division I-A national average of 63 percent for student-athletes. The four-year average was second highest in the Big Ten to Northwestern. - African-American student-athletes at Penn State consistently graduate at much higher percentages than at other Division I-A institutions. The 71 percent four-year federal rate marked the 16th straight year that Penn State's graduation rate for African-American student-athletes topped the African-American figures for Division I-A. At all Division I-A institutions in the NCAA compilation, the African-American four-year graduation percentile was 52 percent. The University??s African-American student-athlete Graduation Success Rate was 77 percent, significantly higher than the Division I-A national GSR average of 61 percent. - Eight Nittany Lion student-athletes were selected 2007 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholars, the highest total of any Big Ten institution. |