UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fifteen Penn State student-athletes are scheduled to graduate Saturday, August 14 during commencement ceremonies.
The 15 student-athletes on the intent to graduate list following the summer semester bring the 2020-21 academic year total to 155 graduates.
Four hundred forty-six Nittany Lions earned Academic All-Big Ten honors during the 2020-21 year. Each student-athletes possessed a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. The Big Ten also honored 185 Penn State student-athletes as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars for recording a minimum GPA of 3.7 for the 2020-21 academic year.
Penn State has earned 213 CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in program history. Penn State ranks fourth all-time amongst NCAA Division I institutions in CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees.
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.
Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 47 conference championships (36 Big Ten titles) and nine NCAA National Championships since October 2013. The Nittany Lions have finished in the top 15 of the Learfield IMG College Director's Cup 19 times in the last 27 years (the Director's Cup was not awarded in 2019-20).
Record-Breaking NCAA Graduation Success Rate
The 2020 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 92 percent to break the school's all-time record of 91, which was previously set in the 2019 NCAA report. Nittany Lion students posted a 92 percent graduation rate compared to the 88 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2010-11 through the 2013-14 academic year.
Penn State student-athletes have logged a Graduation Success Rate in the 88-92 percent range during each of the past 14 NCAA reports, improving from 88 percent in the 2015 report to a record-breaking 92 percent report in 2020. Nine Nittany Lion programs earned 100 percent graduation rates and 16 programs were above the national average for their sport.