Maryville University has been honored with the 2021 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 43 NCAA Division II member schools that earned the award. The Great Lakes Valley Conference had five institutions recognized. Only one other Division II conference in the country had more institutions earn this distinction.

The Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial collegiate enrollment.

Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rates, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by 8%. For Division II athletes, the federal rate increased 1 percentage point to 60%, and the general student body increased 1 point to 52%.

“It is an honor recognizing 43 schools for this prestigious award,” said Steven Shirley, president of Minot State and 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.”