Rollins Earns President's Award for Academic Excellence

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Rollins College, Barry University, Eckerd College, Florida Southern College, and Florida Tech lead the Sunshine State Conference with NCAA Division II Academic Success Rates of 90 percent or better. Nearly all student-athletes from these institutions' 2013-16 cohort graduated within six years of original enrollment.

SEE ALSO: NCAA Announces SSC as Top Conference in Academic Success Rate in 2023

As part of the Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence program, now in its 13th year, Rollins, Barry, Eckerd, Florida Southern, and Florida Tech, along with 39 other Division II institutions, will be honored for achieving four-year ASRs of 90 percent or higher. Rollins and Eckerd belong to the group of eight institutions that have received the award every year. Barry repeats for the ninth consecutive year, and Florida Southern earns a fifth straight accolade.

"Congratulations to the 44 schools who have earned this prestigious award," said Steven Shirley, president of Minot State and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. "It takes a collective effort from the student-athletes, coaches, university and athletic administrators to earn an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher, and I'm very excited to recognize these schools."

The Northeast-10 Conference, Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and Sunshine State Conference boast five or more athletics programs with ASRs of 90 percent or higher. Earlier in December, the NCAA announced that SSC member institutions combined for an NCAA ASR record of 89 percent. A mark that places the SSC first among the 23 Division II leagues.

About the Academic Success Rate
 
Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial college enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletic scholarships.

The Division II ASR also captures about 40 percent more college athletes than the federal graduation rate. Unlike the Federal Graduation Rate, the ASR also counts student-athletes who transfer to a school after initial enrollment elsewhere and removes from the rate student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible. The national ASR is 76 percent for student-athletes who entered college from 2013 through 2016.

Regardless of which measure is used, Division II college athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2016 entering class of student-athletes was 60 percent, compared to 53 percent for the general student body.

2023 Presidents' Award Recipients