Skyhawks maintain top ten national ranking as NCAA Division II announces Academic Success Ratings
EASTON, Mass. (October 29, 2014)
– 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. 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.
“Stonehill athletics continues to be synonymous with success – both in the classroom and in athletic competition,” said Brendan J. Sullivan, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Stonehill. “The most recent NCAA Division II Academic Success Rating is outstanding and is a result of our student-athletes’ desire to be leaders in all of their endeavors. I would like to thank both our student-athletes and coaches for their continued commitment to excellence in all that they do. Stonehill is grateful to have such wonderful ambassadors of our academic mission.”
Stonehill, which has received the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence each of the first three years of its existence, has boasted an ASR over 96% each of the last five years. In addition to Stonehill’s overall ASR of 96%, 12 of Stonehill’s 16 athletic programs (cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field are combined by the NCAA) received perfect scores of 100% - an increase of two programs from last year. 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, volleyball and equestrian. Of Stonehill’s programs that had an ASR of 100% for the cohort period of 2007-08 through 2010-11 27 of the teams over that span participated in postseason play, with that group of programs winning ten Northeast-10 Championships and earning 18 NCAA Tournament bids. 13 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’s 96% ASR ranks third among NE-10 institutions behind only Saint Michael’s College (98%) and Bentley University (97%). They are among four NE-10 institutions ranking in the top ten and among six with an ASR of 90% or better. Stonehill earned a No. 3 national ranking in 2011.
This is the ninth 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.
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 ten straight years, winning the Cup four times, including a streak of three-straight from 2009-10 through 2011-12. 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.
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NCAA Division II ASR Rankings Top 10
Rk ASR Institution
1. 100 Simon Fraser University (British Columbia)
100 Southern Wesleyan University (S.C.)
3. 99 Davis and Elkins College (W.V.)
4. 98 Saint Michael’s College
98 Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
6. 97 Bentley University
97 University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
8 96 Stonehill College
96 Rockhurst University (Mo.)
10. 95 Assumption College
95 William Jewell College (Mo.)