Skyhawks boast 96-percent Academic Success Rate for third straight year, rank sixth nationally in Division II
Stonehill Academic Success Rate Report for Cohort 2009 (PDF)
EASTON, Mass. (December 1, 2016) – Stonehill College has once again been recognized for its academic performance with regard to graduation rate by earning a 96-percent Academic Success Rating (ASR) as released by the NCAA, earning the NCAA’s Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence. The ASR considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes while also giving credit for any student-athletes that transferred from the institution while in good academic standing.
“Our student-athletes embrace the opportunity to excel in all areas of their collegiate experience, and the Academic Success Rating results certainly highlight that fact,” said Dean O’Keefe, ‘94, Director of Athletics at Stonehill. “The ASR scores are a tremendous credit to our student-athletes in their continued pursuit of academic and athletic excellence, and reaffirms the collaborative work of our coaches, faculty and staff is fostering an environment for our students to think, act and lead in preparation for future success.”
Stonehill, which is one of ten institutions across Division II to receive the NCAA Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence all six years of its existence, has boasted an ASR of 96-percent or better each of the ten years the NCAA has released ASR numbers. The Skyhawks’ 96-percent ASR for the cohort period of 2006-2009 ranks sixth nationally in Division II and third among Northeast-10 Conference members. The NE10 leads Division II with four member institutions boasting an ASR of 90-percent or higher, with Saint Michael’s College (98%), Bentley University (98%) and Assumption College (93%) joining Stonehill among the list of six-time Presidents’ Award honorees.
In addition to Stonehill’s overall ASR of 96%, 11 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 baseball, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s cross country/track & field, field hockey, women’s lacrosse, softball and volleyball. 13 of Stonehill’s programs had ASR’s well above the national average, or at least matching a 100% federal rate, with just one below 90% - with football at 89%, still 17 points higher than the federal rate for its sport.
Stonehill won 17 NE10 Championships over the four-year cohort period ending in 2009 and received 25 NCAA Tournament bids, with the 2006 women’s lacrosse team capturing its second National Championship.
This is the tenth year the NCAA has released the Division II ASR. The NCAA developed the Division II ASR at the request of college and university presidents who believed the federal graduation rate was flawed. Division II’s ASR data is similar to the Division I Graduation Success Rate as it takes transfer students into account. However, given the partial-scholarship financial aid model of Division II, ASR goes one step further and includes student-athletes not receiving athletic scholarships.
The Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial collegiate enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletic scholarships. The Division II ASR also captures about 51 percent more student-athletes than the federal graduation rate. Unlike the federal rate, the ASR counts non-scholarship student-athletes and those who transfer to a school after initial enrollment elsewhere, while removing student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible. The national ASR is 71 percent for Division II student-athletes who entered college from 2006 through 2009. Division II student-athletes continue to graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2009 entering class of student-athletes was 56 percent, compared with 49 percent for the general student body.
With 21 intercollegiate sports, after announcing the addition of women’s golf for the 2017-18 academic year, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. While finishing in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for overall athletic performance 12 straight years, the Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first six years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked third in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings for Division II used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
NCAA Division II ASR Rankings
Top 10
Rk ASR Institution
1. 99 Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
2. 98 Saint Michael’s College
98 Bentley University
98 Hillsdale College (Mich.)
5. 97 University of the Sciences (Pa.)
6. 96 Stonehill College
96 Seattle Pacific University
8. 94 Embry-Riddle University (Fla.)
94 Philadelphia University
94 Flagler College (Fla.)
94 UC San Diego