Nov. 3, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State football team's superlative NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) again is among the top 15 of the nation's Football Bowl Subdivision institutions and tied for fifth nationally among public FBS institutions.
Penn State football student-athletes that enrolled in the University from 2004-07 earned a superlative Graduation Success Rate of 87 percent, second-highest in the Big Ten Conference and tied with Middle Tennessee State for No. 13 overall among the nation's 128 FBS institutions. The 87 percent figure was up two points from the 2013 NCAA report and tied for the football program's second-highest graduation rate (with 2011).
The Nittany Lions' football graduation rate was tied for No. 5 among all public FBS institutions, trailing only Texas-San Antonio, Northern Illinois, UCF and UCLA. Penn State's graduation figure was 16 points higher than the 71 percent FBS average and was second to Northwestern among Big Ten institutions, according to the NCAA.
Penn State football student-athletes that enrolled in the University from 2004-07 earned a four-year federal graduation rate of 75 percent, second highest nationally among all FBS public institutions (Northern Illinois, 82 percent). The Nittany Lions' 75 percent figure was an improvement of three points from 2013 and also No. 2 to Northwestern among Big Ten teams. Penn State's graduation figure was 16 points above the 59 percent FBS average, according to the NCAA.
The GSR is the NCAA's more inclusive calculation of student-athlete academic success. The NCAA rate is more accurate than the federally mandated methodology because it includes incoming transfers and students enrolling in the spring semester who receive athletic aid and graduate, and deletes from the calculation student-athletes who leave an institution and were academically eligible to compete.
Top Football Graduation Success Rates Among 128 FBS Institutions (2014 NCAA data)
1. Texas-San Antonio, 100 percent 2. Stanford, 99 3. Northwestern, 97 4. Rice, 95 5. Notre Dame, 94 6. U.S. Air Force Academy, 93 7. Boston College and Duke, 92 9. Northern Illinois, 91 10. Wake Forest, 90 11. UCLA and U.S. Military Academy, 88 13. Penn State and Middle Tennessee State, 87
All Penn State student-athletes that enrolled from 2004-07 earned a GSR of 89 percent, compared to the 82 percent average for Division I, according to the NCAA, and just one point off its all-time high of 90 percent.
The outstanding graduation data is the latest success in a long line of academic achievement for members of the Penn State football program, who consistently are at or near the top nationally in academic success:
- Nine members of Coach James Franklin's squad had earned their degrees prior to the start of the season;
- The Nittany Lions' 18 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans® over the past eight years (16 first team selections) leads the nation. John Urschel earned first-team Academic All-America® accolades in 2012 and 2013 and last year became Penn State's first recipient of the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy. Penn State has had a least one first team ESPN Academic All-American® in nine of the past 10 seasons;
- The Nittany Lions' all-time total of 63 Academic All-America® football honorees ranks third among all FBS institutions;
- A total of 328 of Penn State football student-athletes have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors since 1993 for owning at least a 3.0 grade point average and being a letterwinner.
For the 2014 NCAA Graduation rate data for all institutions go to: www.ncaa.org
Penn State visits Indiana Saturday, Nov. 8 for a 12 p.m. ET kick in Bloomington. The Big Ten East Division clash will air on BTN, the Penn State Sports network (10:30 a.m. airtime) and GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State football's average home attendance is up 6,037 per game this fall compared to the first five games of 2013, for an average of 102,257 this season. More than 6,000 new Penn State football season tickets and more than 78,000 single game and group tickets have been sold this year.
Tickets are available for Penn State's last two home games of the season: Nov. 15 vs. Temple (Military Appreciation Day/Seats For Soldiers) and the Nov. 29 Senior Day clash against No. 7 Michigan State. The kick times for both games are to be determined.
Fans can purchase Penn State tickets at PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office (weekdays, 10 a.m-6 p.m.). The Beaver Stadium ticket office, near Gate E, opens four hours before kickoff for all Penn State home games.
Penn State Football is on Twitter (@PennStateFball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/PSUFball).