INDIANAPOLIS – The Nova Southeastern University Department of Athletics was honored with the Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence on Wednesday. NSU is one of 27 schools out of nearly 300 DII member institutions that achieved a four-year Academic Success Rates of 90 percent or more.
"It is a proud moment for the NSU Sharks to be honored with this distinguished award during our 50th anniversary year," said NSU President and CEO George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D. "This recognition by the NCAA of our student-athletes demonstrates their dedication to succeeding both on and off the field in their chosen sports and educational paths. I can't think of a better way to close out the 2013-14 athletic year."
Academic Success Rate (ASR) measures graduation success for all 292 DII schools. This is the third year of the Presidents' Award program honoring those at 90 percent ASR or higher. The student-athletes entering NSU between 2003-06 scored 92 percent, well above the national four-year ASR average of 71 percent.
"Being recognized as one of the top academic institutions in the NCAA is certainly a great honor and certainly speaks to our core values and mission of the university," said NSU Director of Athletics Michael Mominey. "We strive to be the best athletically and academically and create a true balance of both for our student-athletes each and every day. This would not happen without the leadership of our coaches, staff and administration who are truly dedicated to developing young and men and women for life beyond the fields of play."
NSU is one of only three Sunshine State Conference schools to achieve this honorable distinction, along with Rollins and Eckerd. Simon Fraser, based in British Columbia, Canada and the only international DII institution, achieved a perfect 100 percent ASR.
The academic success for NSU stretches far beyond this four-year period. Since joining the NCAA, the athletic department has consistently maintained a 3.0 cumulative yearly GPA, including a best of 3.17 in each of the last two years. For the period NSU is being recognized, 22 student-athletes earned NCAA Scholar All-American honors. Since joining the NCAA DII in 2002, NSU has accumulated a total of 121 NCAA Scholar All-Americans.
On the national level, the DII ASR captures about 60 percent more student-athletes than the federal graduation rate, and no matter what measure is used, DII student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2006 entering class of student-athletes was 54 percent, compared to 48 percent for the general student body.
Below is the full list of those schools honored on Wednesday and numbers broken down by conference.
School (4Yr ASR)Simon Fraser University (100)
Davis and Elkins College (99)
William Jewell College (99)
Saint Michael's College (98)
Stonehill College (97)
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (96)
Bentley University (95)
Regis University (Colorado) (94)
Rollins College (94)
University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon (94)
Assumption College (93)
Maryville University of Saint Louis (93)
University of California, San Diego (93)
Christian Brothers University (92)
Hillsdale College (92)
Nova Southeastern University (92)Rockhurst University (92)
Seattle Pacific University (92)
St. Edward's University (92)
Adelphi University (91)
Concordia College (New York) (91)
Saint Anselm College (91)
Cedarville University (90)
Eckerd College (90)
Merrimack College (90)
Philadelphia University (90)
University of New Haven (90)
By ConferenceNortheast-10 Conference – 8
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference – 3
Great Lakes Valley Conference – 3
Sunshine State Conference – 3Great Midwest Athletic Conference – 2
Great Northwest Athletic Conference – 2
California Collegiate Athletic Association – 1
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – 1
Gulf South Conference – 1
Heartland Conference – 1
Independent – 1
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – 1
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