UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – Penn State records its third highest spring Academic All-Big Ten total with 210 student-athletes earning a 3.0 or higher GPA. The highest two spring totals came in 2021 and 2022 when the Nittany Lions reached 226 and 224, respectively.
The Penn State athletic department registered 109 fall honorees and 106 winter honorees to total 425 selections throughout the 2022-23 academic year.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team and 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.
Two women's track and field student-athletes earned unblemished grade point averages, graduate student Cecelia Bacon and junior Victoria Vanriele.
Among those on the list of spring Academic All-Big Ten honorees is softball's Lexie Black and women's lacrosse's Rachel Spilker. Black was just selected as a Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipient. The distinction is awarded by the Big Ten to one male and one female student from the graduating class of each member institution who has demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career. Spilker earned the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award as announced by the conference last week. These honorees must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The men's lacrosse team led Penn State for the fourth consecutive year with 28 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. The men's and women's track & field teams combined for 47 selections.
Team by Team Honorees
Baseball – 15-
Men's Fencing –13
Men's Lacrosse – 28
Men's Golf – 6
Men's Tennis – 6
Men's Track & Field – 22
Men's Volleyball – 14
Softball – 18
Women's Fencing – 12
Women's Golf – 9
Women's Hockey – 12
Women's Lacrosse – 24
Women's Tennis – 6
Women's Track & Field – 25
Penn State Highest Spring Academic All-Big Ten Totals (3.0 GPA):
2021 – 226^
2022 – 224*
2023 – 210
2019 – 183
2020 – 174^
2018 - 166
* - School record
^ - alternate grading system used due to COVID-19.
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 record-tying 92% NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and 10 programs earned perfect 100% ratings. This is the sixth consecutive year the Nittany Lions have posted a record or record-tying performance in the classroom, 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 and 2021 NCAA report. Nittany Lion students posted a 92% graduation rate compared to the 89% average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2012-13 through the 2015-16 academic year.
Penn State student-athletes have logged a Graduation Success Rate in the 88-92% range during each of the past 16 NCAA reports, improving from 88% in the 2015 report to a record-breaking 92% report in the last three reports.
Twenty-one 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 of 89%.
The 10 Nittany Lion squads posting 100% Graduation Success Rate scores were: women's fencing, field hockey, men's golf, women's golf, women's hockey, women's swimming & diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's volleyball and wrestling.
Penn State Among the Nation's Most Comprehensive and Successful Athletic Programs
Under the leadership of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Kraft 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.
