Maryville University has once again been honored with the prestigious NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence. Maryville was recognized for a student-athlete Academic Success Rate of 94%.

Maryville was part of a record 42 NCAA Division II member schools that earned the NCAA award in 2020, and one of only five schools from the Great Lakes Valley Conference to earn the award.

“Maryville salutes its student-athletes and the great victories they achieve on and off the field,” said President Mark Lombardi, PhD. “I congratulate everyone who worked toward this academic success including the faculty and coaches who make a profound difference in the lives of these student-athletes.”

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.

Unlike the federal rate, the Division II ASR includes nearly 34,000 nonscholarship student-athletes and accounts for those who transfer to a Division II school after initial enrollment elsewhere, while removing student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible. The national ASR for the four cohorts of student-athletes who entered college from 2010 to 2013 is 74%.

Division II student-athletes continue to graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, the 2013 entering class of student-athletes graduated at a rate of 62%, compared with 53% for the general student body.

“The Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence recognizes Division II member schools for their commitment to a balanced college experience that supports the academic success of college athletes,” said Sandra Jordan, chancellor of the University of South Carolina Aiken and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. “Ten more institutions earned this award than last year, setting an all-time high for this program, but most importantly, this means college athletes at these schools are achieving academic success that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.”