University Park, Pa. -- Penn State student-athletes continue to make more progress toward graduation in comparison with the nation's Division I institutions, despite higher academic standards than required, according to data released today by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The NCAA released data from the 2005-06 academic year as the third set of information in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), a formula introduced in 2005 as part of the Division I Academic Performance Program. The NCAA released sport specific data for 2005-06 to each institution, as well as the initial three years of collected data that will be used to determine a four-year APR score for all athletic teams to provide a meaningful assessment of a team's academic performance.
Nine Penn State teams earned a perfect APR score of 1,000 during 2005-06, and three teams have a three-year APR score of 1,000 -- women's golf, women's lacrosse and women's tennis. Less than 10 percent of the nation's 6,110 teams in the survey earned a three-year APR score of 1,000.
The six additional Nittany Lion teams earning an APR score of 1,000 in 2005-06 were: men's golf, men's tennis, women's fencing, women's soccer, women's volleyball and wrestling.
Among Penn State's 29 varsity teams, 22 have a three-year APR score above the Division I average for their respective sports. The NCAA did not release institutional APR rates for 2005-06 or the three-year rate.
Penn State student-athletes earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 86 percent compared with a 78 percent average for all Division I-A institutions, according to NCAA data released in November 2006. Twenty-one of Penn State's 25 teams earned a GSR score at or above the national average (track and field and cross country are counted as one sport), and 19 teams had a GSR of 80 percent or better.
Among the 1999-2000 entering freshman class, a record-tying 83 percent of Penn State student-athletes earned degrees within six years, compared to 64 percent for all Division I-A institutions, according to the NCAA. For the third time in the past five years, Penn State was tied for the highest graduation rate among the nation's I-A public institutions.
"We continue to be very pleased with the consistently high level of academic achievement by our student-athletes," stated Tim Curley, director of athletics. "Penn State strongly encourages and endorses Academic Progress Reporting and other forms of protecting the interest of the student-athlete earning a meaningful education. We recognize that currently some institutions are slightly penalized for reporting at a higher standard, but we will not compromise that standard."
Penn State academic standards (Faculty Senate Policy 67-00) are higher than both the NCAA and Big Ten standards and are reflected in the 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 APR reporting to the NCAA. Nittany Lion student-athletes are required to have passed more credits entering their fifth through eighth semesters than the Big Ten requires. Penn State student-athletes also must have a higher grade point average than the Big Ten minimum entering their second through sixth semesters.
The APR scores are a measure of eligibility/graduation and retention for each student-athlete receiving athletic aid during the identified academic semester/year. Retention is evaluated for each student-athlete with the following question in mind: Did that student-athlete return to the institution the next semester (students can earn 2 points after the fall semester and 2 points after the spring and summer semesters)? Eligibility is evaluated using NCAA, conference (if applicable) and institutional standards.
Beginning this fall, the APR will be based on four years of data (2003-04 through 2006-07), and every year thereafter, the most current year's data will be added and the oldest year will be removed to create a four-year rolling rate.
With three years of collected data, contemporaneous financial-aid penalties can be applied this academic year if an athletic team's three-year APR score is below 925. Athletic teams with below a 925 APR score will be subject to contemporaneous penalties. Since there is limited data at this time, some teams fall into a "confidence boundary," which means that some teams would not be penalized for a score below 925.
Only one Penn State team has a three-year APR below 925, but its 2005-06 APR score was above 925. The team will not be penalized due to squad size adjustments (small sample size).
The Penn State football team has a three-year APR score of 960, easily beating the Division I-A football average of 931 and the public institution average of 922. The Nittany Lions have the second-highest three-year APR score in the Big Ten, trailing only Northwestern.
The Nittany Lion basketball team has a three-year APR score of 950, significantly above the Division I men's basketball average of 927 and the public institution score of 917. The Lady Lion basketball squad has a three-year APR score of 945.
Penn State's student-athletes, who have captured nine Big Ten Championships and two NCAA titles the past two years, consistently have been among the nation's most successful in earning their degrees. Among some of the recent academic accomplishments are:
* During the most recent semester, 194 Nittany Lion student-athletes earned a 3.50 grade point average or higher to gain Dean's List recognition. The total represents a record-tying 27 percent of the 717 young men and women who were members of Penn State's 29 varsity sports. The 194 total is second only to the 199 Dean's List students (also 27 percent) during the 2005 fall semester. Dean's List students must complete a minimum of 12 credits in a semester.
A total of 433 student-athletes earned a GPA of 3.0 or above last semester, the third-highest total, just nine off the record of 442 from the 2003 fall semester and two below the 2005 fall term total of 435. The 433 total represents a record-tying 60 percent of active student-athletes, equaling the mark set in the fall of 2003 and '04.
* Penn State's 81 percent four-year graduation rate is well above the national average of 63 percent for student-athletes. The four-year average was second highest in the Big Ten to Northwestern.
* African-American student-athletes at Penn State consistently graduate at much higher percentages than at other Division I-A institutions. The 71 percent four-year federal rate in 2006 marked the 16th straight year that Penn State's graduation rate for African-American student-athletes topped the African-American figures for Division I-A. At all Division I-A institutions in the NCAA compilation, the African-American four-year graduation percentile was 52 percent.
The University's African-American student-athlete GSR was 77 percent, significantly higher than the national Division I-A GSR average of 61 percent.
* Eleven Nittany Lions have earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors the past two years, including six thus far in 2006-07. Senior linebacker Paul Posluszny was selected the Academic All-American of the Year in Division I football.
* A total of 78 Penn State student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors last fall, the highest total among all conference institutions. Including the 48 honorees from the winter sports, Penn State's 126 honorees so far in 2006-07 lead all Big Ten schools.