Total of 146 Nittany Lion Students Graduate During Academic Year
Aug. 14, 2015 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Eighteen Penn State student-athletes are scheduled to graduate during Commencement exercises Saturday in the Bryce Jordan Center. The 18 students represent 14 different programs.
The 18 on the approved to graduate list lift the total to 146 Nittany Lion students who will have earned their degrees during the 2014-15 academic year. The total is increase of three from last year’s 143 graduates.
Among the Penn State students on the summer approved to graduate list are two each from the men’s and women’s track and field teams and two from the women’s fencing and women’s hockey programs.
A total of 101 Penn State student-athletes graduated this past spring, the second-highest total in school history.
The summer 2015 graduates conclude another banner year for Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. Nittany Lion students, who have captured a conference-high 19 Big Ten Championships and five NCAA titles since September 2012, consistently have been among the most successful in the nation in earning their degrees and academic success. Among some of the recent academic accomplishments are:
– The NCAA’s most recent (2014) annual study of institutions across the nation revealed Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 89 percent compared to the 82 percent average for all Division I institutions. The 89 percent figure was second-highest, to Northwestern, among Big Ten Conference institutions.
– During the 2014 fall semester, a school record 500 of the approximately 800 Nittany Lion student-athletes earned at least a 3.0 GPA, crushing the previous high of 468 in the 2013 fall semester. Among the 500 high achievers, a record 241 garnered Dean’s List honors by posting a GPA of 3.50 or higher, while passing a minimum of 12 credits. The previous Dean’s List mark was 211 in the 2012 fall semester.
– During the most recent semester, a school spring semester record 474 Penn State students earned a 3.0 GPA; 62 percent of all student-athletes enrolled during the spring. Among the 474 high achievers, a spring semester record 221 earned Dean’s List honors with a 3.5 GPA. The combined average GPA was 3.11 among Penn State’s 31 varsity sports during the spring semester. The 474 and 221 totals, respectively, rank No. 2 overall in a semester, topped only by last fall’s academic achievements.
– A total of 277 student-athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten accolades in 2014-15. Penn State has earned a total of 5,039 Academic All-Big Ten honorees during its 22 years of full membership in the conference.
– Matt Brown (wrestling) and Laura Gebhart (field hockey) were selected first-team CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-Americans, with Brown earning the Academic All-American of the Year for all sports. Robby Creese (men’s track and field) was a third-team honoree. Penn State’s 189 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time rank No. 3 among Division I institutions.
– Brown, the Nittany Lions’ Male Student-Athlete of the Year for 2014-15, also earned a prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship, Penn State’s 46th such recipient.
– In May, the NCAA reported that six Penn State teams have perfect four-year Academic Progress Rate scores of 1,000 and that 10 Nittany Lion squads earned perfect APR scores in 2013-14.
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