Jewell Receives NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence

12/20/2022

The NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence is awarded to Division II schools that have achieved a four-cohort (2012-15) Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher. This year, 44 member schools earned this honor, including William Jewell College. The NCAA and the federal government measure time to graduate within a six-year window of first-time enrollment. Thus, the graduation rates for the 2012-2015 cohorts would have been reported from 2019 to 2022.

This is the eighth time in 11 years as an NCAA member that William Jewell has received the honor, and fourth consecutive, posting a 91% Academic Success Rate (ASR). The Cardinals are one of five of Great Lakes Valley Conference schools to make the list, joining Maryville, Rockhurst, Lewis and Truman State. 

I am excited to honor and recognize the 44 schools for this prestigious award. It is a testament to their hard work, commitment and dedication to achieving academic excellence."
- Steven Shirley, president of Minot State and chair of the Division II Presidents Council.

The Division II ASR includes transfers into a school in the calculation and removes those who transferred out while academically eligible. The ASR also includes the more than 30,000 nonscholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.

Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by 8 percentage points. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 60%, while the general student body federal rate is 52%.