Skyhawks among 27 Division II institutions honored for having an Academic Success Rate over 90-percent
NCAA Division II Presidents' Award announcement
EASTON, Mass. (May 30, 2014) – Stonehill College,
which has finished in the top three of the final Northeast-10
Conference Presidents’ Cup standings for overall athletic
achievement in Conference sports each of the last nine years, has
received a Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic
Excellence for the third straight year. Stonehill is among 27
institutions recognized by the NCAA in the award’s third year
of existence; honoring athletics programs with four year Academic
Success Rates of 90-percent or more.
Stonehill, which ranks fifth nationally with a 97-percent Academic Success Rate (ASR), is one of a Division II-best eight Northeast-10 Conference members to appear on the list, including Saint Michael’s College who leads the way with a 98% ASR with the Skyhawks ranking second among the eight in the league honored. None of the other 24 NCAA Division II conferences had more than three institutions earn Presidents’ Awards.
"Our student athletes know that competitive athletics complement academic quality and rigor,” said Rev. John Denning, C.S.C, President of Stonehill. “The habits of discipline, focus, time management and team work are crucial to academic success and to top performances on the playing fields. We know that spirit motivates our student athletes and we are proud of what they have accomplished in receiving the award for the third-straight year. It reflects the outstanding 97-percent academic success rate for student-athletes at Stonehill.”
In addition to Stonehill’s overall ASR of 97%, ten of Stonehill’s 16 athletic programs (cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field are combined by the NCAA) received perfect scores of 100%. Those programs include men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s cross country/track & field, field hockey, women’s lacrosse, softball, volleyball and equestrian. Of Stonehill’s programs that had an ASR of 100% for the cohort period of 2003 through 2006, 27 of the teams over that span participated in postseason play, with that group of programs winning 13 Northeast-10 Championships and earning 15 NCAA Tournament bids and the 2005 women’s lacrosse team winning the program’s second national championship. 12 of Stonehill’s programs had ASR’s well above the national average, or at least meeting a 100% federal rate, with just one below 90%.
“Stonehill College student-athletes continue to set the bar high with their academic achievements,” said Brendan Sullivan, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at the College. “To be recognized with this award for the third straight year demonstrates the continued commitment of our student-athletes to excel in their academic pursuits. Combined with their continued collectively impressive athletic achievements, they are great representatives of Stonehill and our proud tradition of excellence.”
Stonehill’s 97% ASR ranks second among NE-10 institutions behind just Saint Michael’s (98%) for the fourth-straight year. They are among three NE-10 institutions ranking in the top ten and among a Division II-best eight with an ASR of 90% or better. Stonehill held at a No. 5 national ranking for the second straight year after being ranked third in 2011 and fourth in 2010.
The Division II Academic Requirements Committee established the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence to recognize programs achieving long-term academic success. The honor is intended to call attention to those programs and is not intended as a ranking. The Division II Academic Success Rate measures graduation rates for virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletically related financial aid. Active and provisional member institutions when the data were submitted for 2012-13 were eligible for the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence. The four-year ASR measured the entering cohorts from 2003 to 2006, inclusive.
The Division II Academic Success Rate captures about two-third more student-athletes than the federal graduation rate, which does not count incoming transfers, counts outgoing transfers as having not graduated and counts only student-athletes receiving athletically related financial aid. The national four-year ASR average is 72 percent. Regardless of the measure, Division II student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2004 entering class of student-athletes was 55 percent, compared to 49 percent for the general student body.
With 20 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. The Skyhawks have finished in the top three in the final NE-10 Presidents' Cup standings nine straight years, winning the Cup four times, including a streak of three-straight from 2009-10 through 2011-12. This prestigious award is given to the top performing athletic school in the Northeast-10, across all sports and seasons. Stonehill has received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first two years if the program's existence of honoring programs with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. The Skyhawks have earned a 97% Academic Success Ranking (ASR) by the NCAA, which considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes, good for fifth among all NCAA Division II institutions, with ten Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked sixth in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.
Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic
Excellence
Division II programs with a four-year Academic Success
Rate of 90 percent of higher:
|
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 |
|
Conference |
Members |
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Northeast-10 Conference |
8 |
|
|
|
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
3 |
|
|
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Great Lakes Valley Conference |
3 |
|
|
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Sunshine State Conference |
3 |
|
|
|
Great Northwest Athletic Conference |
2 |
|
|
|
California Collegiate Athletic Association |
1 |
|
|
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Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
1 |
|
|
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Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
2 |
|
|
|
Gulf South Conference |
1 |
|
|
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Heartland Conference |
1 |
|
|
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Independent |
1 |
|
|
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Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference |
1 |
|
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