The Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence is awarded to Division II schools that have achieved an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher. For the second consecutive year, 44 member schools have earned this honor.
Bentley and Saint Michael's were the top performers, earning an ASR of 99%. Biola, D'Youville, Hillsdale and Thomas Jefferson University rounded out the top six, each earning an ASR of 98%.
The Northeast-10 Conference led the division with seven athletics programs achieving scores of 90% or more, followed by the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and Sunshine State Conference with five programs each.
"Congratulationsto 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 Division II ASR includes transfers into a school in the calculation and removes those who transferred out of the school while academically eligible. The ASR also includes over 30,000 nonscholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.
Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by 7%. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 60%, while the general student body federal rate is 53%.
This is the 13th year the award has been given. Eight schools have earned the award every year: Assumption, Bentley, Eckerd, Hillsdale, Rockhurst, Rollins, Saint Michael's and Seattle Pacific.
| Institution | Conference | Four-Year ASR |
|---|---|---|
| Adelphi University | Northeast-10 Conference | 91% |
| Assumption University | Northeast-10 Conference | 91% |
| Augustana University (South Dakota) | Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | 91% |
| Barry University | Sunshine State Conference | 92% |
| Bentley University | Northeast-10 Conference | 99% |
| Biola University | Pacific West Conference | 98% |
| Caldwell University | Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | 94% |
| Cedarville University | Great Midwest Athletic Conference | 95% |
| Chestnut Hill College | Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | 90% |
| Colorado Christian University | Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | 91% |
| Colorado School of Mines | Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | 91% |
| Concordia University, St. Paul | Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | 93% |
| Davis & Elkins College | Mountain East Conference | 91% |
| Dominican University of California | Pacific West Conference | 94% |
| D'Youville University | East Coast Conference | 98% |
| Eckerd College | Sunshine State Conference | 92% |
| Emory & Henry College | South Atlantic Conference | 94% |
| Flagler College | Peach Belt Conference | 91% |
| Florida Institute of Technology | Sunshine State Conference | 92% |
| Florida Southern College | Sunshine State Conference | 92% |
| Georgia College | Peach Belt Conference | 94% |
| Goldey-Beacom College | Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | 91% |
| Hillsdale College | Great Midwest Athletic Conference | 98% |
| Holy Family University | Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | 93% |
| Lewis University | Great Lakes Valley Conference | 93% |
| Maryville University of Saint Louis | Great Lakes Valley Conference | 90% |
| Mercy University | East Coast Conference | 94% |
| Michigan Technological University | Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 94% |
| Molloy University | East Coast Conference | 90% |
| Pace University | Northeast-10 Conference | 90% |
| Point Loma Nazarene University | Pacific West Conference | 92% |
| Rockhurst University | Great Lakes Valley Conference | 94% |
| Rollins College | Sunshine State Conference | 96% |
| Saint Anselm College | Northeast-10 Conference | 92% |
| Saint Martin's University | Great Northwest Athletic Conference | 90% |
| Saint Michael's College | Northeast-10 Conference | 99% |
| Seattle Pacific University | Great Northwest Athletic Conference | 94% |
| Southern New Hampshire University | Northeast-10 Conference | 91% |
| St. Edward's University | Lone Star Conference | 90% |
| Thomas Jefferson University | Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | 98% |
| Trevecca Nazarene University | Great Midwest Athletic Conference | 94% |
| Truman State University | Great Lakes Valley Conference | 91% |
| University of Minnesota, Crookston | Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | 90% |
| Western Washington University | Great Northwest Athletic Conference | 91% |