UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – One hundred forty-two Penn State student-athletes are scheduled to graduate this weekend (May 6-8) during Commencement ceremonies. The 142 student-athletes on the intent to graduate list adds to the 17 student-athletes from the fall graduation and brings Penn State total graduates to 159 for the 2021-22 academic year.
All 31 teams have at least one Nittany Lion student-athletes with the intent to graduate. The football and men's lacrosse programs lead the Penn State athletic department with 14 student-athletes each.
Among the students who have expressed intent to graduate, is softball's Claire Swedberg, who was selected as the Health and Human Development marshal for the college of biobehavioral health. Swedberg has a perfect 4.0 GPA and earned a Fulbright Grant to complete her master's degree in Global Health at Maastricht University in the Netherlands beginning this fall. On the men's side two-time NCAA Wrestling Champion Roman Bravo-Young will graduate, while football standouts and current NFL players Saquon Barkley and Shaka Toney are slated to earn their degrees.
During the 2021-22 academic year, 159 Nittany Lions earned their degrees (Fall 2021-17, Spring 2022 – 142).
Penn State Among the Nation's Premier Athletic Programs in Comprehensive Excellence
Under Barbour's leadership, 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.
Nittany Lion students have posted an NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of program-record 92 percent in the most recent report. Ten teams earned a 100 percent graduation rate in the 2021 NCAA Graduation Rates Report. The Nittany Lions rank No. 4 among all Division I schools with 213 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time.
Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 47 Big Ten championships and nine NCAA National Championships since October 2013. Penn State is one of only five schools that have won at least 10 NCAA Championships since 2012 and earned at least a 90 percent Graduation Success Rate in the 2021 NCAA report (Stanford, Florida, USC, Virginia). The Nittany Lions rank fifth in the Learfield IMG College Director's Cup following the fall season.
Record-Breaking NCAA Graduation Success Rate
The 2021 NCAA graduation rate 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 have a GSR of 90% or higher.
