UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A program-record 123 Penn State student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for Penn State's winter programs. The 123 honorees are the most in Penn State's winter history, topping the alternative grading total of 106 honorees in 2020-21 and the non-alternative grading record total of 91 selections in the winter of 2018.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of March 1 for winter sports, who have been enrolled full-time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Among those on the list of winter Academic All-Big Ten honorees is women's basketball's Makenna Marsia, who garnered third-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors this winter. In total, Penn State has earned 217 Academic All-America honors in program history.
The women's swimming & diving team led Penn State for the fourth consecutive year with 29 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. The men's swimming & diving team earned 22 honorees, giving the program a total of 51 for the winter awards. The National Champion wrestling program landed 18 team members on the Academic All-Big Ten list.
Team by Team Honorees
Women's Swimming & Diving – 29
Men's Swimming & Diving – 22
Wrestling – 18
Men's Hockey – 14
Women's Gymnastics – 14
Men's Gymnastics – 13
Women's Basketball – 7
Men's Basketball – 6
The Penn State athletic department registered a record 131 fall honorees. The latest 123 winter selections bring Penn State's total academic honorees to 7,653 since 1991-92.
Penn State Highest Winter Academic All-Big Ten Totals (3.0 GPA):
2021-22 – 123*
2020-21 – 106#
2018-19 – 91
2019-20 – 82
2015-16 – 79
* - School record
# - alternative grading due to COVID-19 pandemic
Graduation Success Rates
Penn State student-athletes continue to register record-breaking graduation rates and perform well above their peers nationwide. The Nittany Lions posted a fifth consecutive record-breaking or record-tying academic performance with a 92 percent graduation success rate, according to data reported by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The NCAA's annual graduation rates report of Division I institutions across the nation revealed Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 92% to tie the school's all-time record of 92, which was previously set in the 2020 NCAA report. Nittany Lion students posted a 92% graduation rate compared to the 89% average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2011-12 through the 2014-15 academic year.
Penn State student-athletes have logged a Graduation Success Rate in the 88-92% range during each of the past 15 NCAA reports, improving from 88% in the 2015 report to a record-breaking 92% report in 2020 and 2021.
Sixteen of the Nittany Lions' 27 teams (men's and women's track and field/cross country teams combined) earned a Graduation Success Rate at or above the Division I national GSR average for their respective sport. A total of 18 Penn State squads has a GSR of 90% or higher.
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.
