UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Athletics had 174 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, which is a non-alternate grading program record, in the 2022-23 academic year. Led by 22 student-athletes with unblemished grade point averages, the Nittany Lions earn their highest number of scholars honored, breaking their record from last year.
The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award is presented to student-athletes who have recorded a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher during the previous academic year.
Penn State's seven highest Big Ten Distinguished Scholar totals have come in the past seven years. The 22 Nittany Lion students earning a 4.0 during the 2022-23 academic year meets their number from the 2021-22 academic year.
The athletic department's academic success included 425 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten honors and 150 Nittany Lions who graduated during the 2022-23 academic year (December and May).
Penn State Big Ten Distinguished Scholar totals since 2017-18:
2022-23: 174 (non-alternate grading school record)
2021-22: 157
2020-21: 183*
2019-20: 144*
2018-19: 117
2017-18: 90
* - alternate grading system used due to COVID-19.
The 22 Nittany Lions who posted perfect 4.0 GPAs during the 2022-23 academic year were: Brenden Franks (baseball), Yin Jin (men's fencing), Carly Gannon (field hockey), Gery Schnarrs (field hockey), Barney Amor (football), Isha Dhruva (women's golf), Michael Artlip (men's gymnastics), Jessica Johanson (women's gymnastics), Anne Spring (women's hockey), Mallory Uihlein (women's hockey), Lauren Saltz (women's lacrosse), Rachel Spilker (women's lacrosse), Jordan Canniff (women's soccer), Amanda Poorbaugh (women's soccer), Ally Schlegel (women's soccer), Rachel Wasserman (women's soccer), Ben Doyle (men's swimming & divining), Molly Carson (women' swimming & diving), Payton Sewall (men's track & field), Cecelia Bacon (women's track & field), Katherine Fedko (women's track & field), Tesia Thomas (women's track & field)
A total of 27 of Penn State teams had at least one Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (men's and women's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field are combined).
Among the Penn State teams is Women's lacrosse, which led the way with 19 academic honorees. Women's soccer followed closely with 17 student-athletes earning the honor. Men's track & field recorded the highest number of honorees on the men's side with 10 to combine with women's track & field for 25 total scholars in the program.
The school record of 174 honorees boosts Penn State to a total of 1,469 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars since the program was established by the Big Ten Faculty Representatives in 2008-09 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program.
Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be in at least their second academic year at their institution. The Distinguished Scholar Award encompasses only students with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school.
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.
