Saint Anselm College is one of only 43 NCAA Division II institutions to claim the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence, presented to member schools earning an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90% or higher. Wednesday's announcement marks the fifth time Saint Anselm has been recognized with the award.
It was announced earlier this month that Saint Anselm set an institutional record with a 94% academic success rate (ASR) among student-athletes who entered the College from 2011-14 to rank 11th out of more than 300 NCAA Division II athletics programs in the country. Furthermore, the Hawks collectively posted a federal graduation rate (FGR) that is ranked 13th nationally.
Among NE10 colleges and universities, Saint Anselm ranked fourth in both federal graduation rate (81%) and academic success rate (94%). As a conference, the Northeast-10 saw 89% of its student-athletes graduate in the 2011-14 cohort, the best rate among all NCAA Division II conferences.
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. Division II student-athletes continue to graduate at a higher rate than the general student body.
"It is an honor recognizing 43 schools for this prestigious award," said Steven Shirley, President of Minot State University and the 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 institution's record-setting academic success rate was helped by perfect scores of 100% from men's golf, women's basketball, field hockey, women's lacrosse, softball and women's cross country. Out of the 16 varsity sports programs eligible for the report, 14 of those had an ASR over 90%. The field hockey team has posted a perfect 100% ASR since its varsity inception in 2001.
The Northeast-10 Conference led NCAA Division II with eight athletics programs achieving scores of 90% or more.