UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – Six Penn State teams have earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award for posting elite scores in this year's Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation. The six teams earning national recognition are the most for the Nittany Lions since seven squads were honored in 2015.
The six teams – women's cross country, women's fencing, men's golf, women's golf, men's hockey and women's track & field – earned multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent nationally for their respective sport through the 2018-19 academic year (data from 2015-16 through 2018-19).
The women's cross country team garnered its second-straight NCAA Public Recognition Award and its ninth overall. Women's fencing and men's golf both earned their third consecutive NCAA Public Recognition Awards. Women's golf garnered its first award since 2015 and seventh overall. Women's track and field received its first public recognition since 2011 and second overall, while the 2020 Big Ten Champion men's hockey claimed its first national recognition.
The NCAA has recognized a total of 87 Penn State teams with a Public Recognition Award since the program's inception in 2006. The Nittany Lions have had at least three squads earn NCAA Public Recognition Awards in all 15 years of the program.
Women's Tennis Leads with 12 Public Recognition Awards in 15 Years
The women's tennis team leads all Nittany Lion squads with 12 NCAA Public Recognition Awards over the 15 years of the program. The women's cross country, field hockey and wrestling teams have received nine NCAA Public Recognition Awards, while the women's golf team has been honored on seven times.
Penn State Teams with Most NCAA Public Recognition Awards
Women's Tennis -12
Women's Cross Country - 9
Field Hockey - 9
Wrestling - 9
Women's Golf - 7
The aggregate 2018-19 Academic Progress Rate data for all NCAA Division I institutions will be announced later this month.
The NCAA's APR is designed to track the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship at a particular institution. It accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation each term to provide a clear measure of each team's academic performance.
Penn State Among the Nation's Most Comprehensive and Successful Athletic Programs
Under the leadership of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour, Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). The Nittany Lions' 31 programs are tied for the fourth-highest number of sports sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution.
Record-Breaking NCAA Graduation Success Rate
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.
