Indianapolis, IN - NCAA Division II announced the recipients of the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence on December 15. The Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence is awarded to Division II schools that have achieved an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher. This year, 43 member schools earned this honor.
Southern Wesleyan is among the 43 member schools recognized with the honor. The Warriors are the highest ranked school in Conference Carolinas with an ASR of 91%. The other Conference Carolinas institution recognized with the honor are the Converse Valkyries who posted an ASR of 90%.
"I am so proud of our student-athletes' dedication in the classroom," said Director of Athletics
Julia Reininga. "This is a wonderful honor for our entire university. The Lord is truly moving on our campus and in the hearts of our students, faculty and staff. Well done Warriors!"
Bentley and Saint Michael's were the top performers, earning an ASR of 99%. Biola, Hillsdale and Thomas Jefferson University rounded out the top five with 98%.
The Northeast-10 Conference led the division with eight athletics programs achieving scores of 90% or more, followed by the Great Lakes Valley Conference with five programs.
"It is an honor recognizing 43 schools for this prestigious award," said Steven Shirley, president of Minot State and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. "I applaud these schools and student-athletes for their hard work, commitment and dedication to achieving academic excellence."
The Division II ASR includes transfers into a school in the calculation and removes transfers out who left school while academically eligible. The ASR also includes the more than 31,000 non-scholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.
Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rates, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by 8%. For Division II athletes, the federal rate increased 1 percentage point to 60%, and the general student body increased 1 point to 52%.
This is the 10th year the award has been given. Ten schools have earned the award every year: Assumption, Bentley, Eckerd, Hillsdale, Rockhurst, Rollins, Saint Michael's, Seattle Pacific, Stonehill and University of the Sciences.
The schools receiving the 2021 Presidents' Award are:
Bentley University 99% Northeast-10 Conference
Saint Michael's College 99% Northeast-10 Conference
Biola University 98% Pacific West Conference
Hillsdale College 98% Great Midwest Athletic Conference
Thomas Jefferson University 98% Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
Davenport University 96% Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Le Moyne College 96% Northeast-10 Conference
Rollins College 96% Sunshine State Conference
Rockhurst University 95% Great Lakes Valley Conference
Seattle Pacific University 95% Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Dominican University of California 94% Pacific West Conference
Eckerd College 94% Sunshine State Conference
Maryville University of Saint Louis 94% Great Lakes Valley Conference
Saint Anselm College 94% Northeast-10 Conference
Cedarville University 93% Great Midwest Athletic Conference
Georgia College 93% Peach Belt Conference
Michigan Technological University 93% Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Point Loma Nazarene University 93% Pacific West Conference
Trevecca Nazarene University 93% Great Midwest Athletic Conference
University of the Sciences 93% Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
Adelphi University 92% Northeast-10 Conference
Barry University 92% Sunshine State Conference
Davis & Elkins College 92% Mountain East Conference
Mercyhurst University 92% Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
Regis University (Colorado) 92% Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Stonehill College 92% Northeast-10 Conference
Truman State University 92% Great Lakes Valley Conference
Western Washington University 92% Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Assumption University 91% Northeast-10 Conference
Caldwell University 91% Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
Colorado Christian University 91% Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Flagler College 91% Peach Belt Conference
Florida Southern College 91% Sunshine State Conference
Holy Family University 91% Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
Lewis University 91% Great Lakes Valley Conference
Southern Wesleyan University 91% Conference Carolinas
St. Edward's University 91% Lone Star Conference
William Jewell College 91% Great Lakes Valley Conference
Concordia University, St. Paul 90% Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Converse College 90% Conference Carolinas
Saint Martin's University 90% Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Southern New Hampshire University 90% Northeast-10 Conference
St. Thomas Aquinas College 90% East Coast Conference
