UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Nineteen Penn State student-athletes are scheduled to graduate Saturday, December 21 during Commencement ceremonies.
The Nittany Lion student-athletes represent nine sports on the intent to graduate list. The football program leads the Penn State athletic department with seven student-athletes. Baseball, men's lacrosse, men's swimming, men's tennis, women's field hockey, women's soccer, softball and women's volleyball all have student-athletes who will earn degrees on Saturday.
Among the students who have expressed intent to graduate, is women's soccer first-team Scholar All-American Kaleigh Riehl. Riehl carries a 3.91 GPA in kinesiology and was recently named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America first team for the second consecutive season. Along with Riehl, men's swimming & diving senior Hector Garcia Boissier earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors in 2019.
During the 2019 calendar year, 173 Nittany Lions earned their degrees (Spring-135, Summer-19, Fall-19). Over the course of the 2018-19 school year, the Penn State athletic department set a record number of graduates with 188 student-athletes earning their diplomas.
Total of 11 football student-athletes have earned 13 degrees prior to the Cotton Bowl
With the seven new graduates on Saturday, the Nittany Lions football team has 11 student-athletes who have earned 13 degrees prior to the Cotton Bowl vs. Memphis on December 28.
Dan Chisena, Will Fries, Daniel Joseph, Isaac Lutz, John Reid and Antonio Shelton earned their first degree from Penn State and Garrett Taylor earned his second undergraduate degree.
Senior linebacker Jan Johnson earned his undergraduate degree in psychology in August 2018 and his master's degree in management and organizational leadership in May 2019. Johnson is working towards his third degree in health policy and administration.
Nick Bowers, Steven Gonzalez and Robert Windsor each earned their first undergraduate degree and are currently working towards a second degree in their respective fields. Graduate transfer Weston Carr earned a degree from Azusa Pacific before transferring to Penn State.
2019 Fall Academic All-Big Ten Honorees
Ninety-four Penn State student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors from Penn State's fall programs. The 94 fall selections equal the number of honorees Penn State earned in the fall of 2018. This ranks as the third-highest total since 1991-92, Penn State's first year of competition in the Big Ten.
Eleni Prodes (field hockey), Blake Gillikin (football), Julia Paternain (women's cross country/track and field) and Kerry Abello (women's soccer) each own perfect 4.0 grade-point averages.
Abello and Gillikin each earned CoSIDA Academic All-America first-team honors, in addition to earning academic all-conference honors. Penn State has now earned 207 CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in program history. Prior to the new school year, Penn State ranked 4th all-time amongst NCAA Division I institutions in CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees.
Graduation Success Rates
The 2019 NCAA's annual graduation rates study of institutions across the nation revealed Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 91 percent to break the school's all-time record of 90, which was previously set in the 2010, 2017 and 2018 NCAA reports. Nittany Lion students posted a 91 percent graduation rate compared to the 88 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2009-10 through the 2012-13 academic year.
Penn State student-athletes have delivered a Graduation Success Rate in the 88-91 percent range during each of the past 13 NCAA reports, improving from 88 percent in the 2015 report, to 89 percent in 2016, to 90 percent in 2017 and 2018, and a record-breaking 91 percent figure in 2019. Ten Nittany Lion programs earned 100% graduation rates and 18 programs were above the national average.
Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 34 Big Ten championships and nine NCAA national championships since October 2013. For the 20th time in the last 26 years the Nittany Lions finished in top 15 in the Learfield IMG College Director's Cup.
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