Ferris Athletics Cited for Academic Excellence by USA Today
The USA Today-NCAA Foundation Academic Achievement Awards recently recognized Ferris State University as one of the top NCAA Division II programs to have a student-athlete graduation rate above the student-body average from 1994-2000.
Ferris State tied for 10th place with Lenoir-Rhyne College (N.C.) as each institution registered a 34 percent graduation rate. St. Paul's College (Va.) posted a national-best 40 percent graduation rate for Division II while the University of Southern Indiana placed second with a 39 percent rate.
"This is a testament to the hard work by our student-athletes and coaches," said FSU Athletics Director Tom Kirinovic. "I'm very proud of the academic success our student-athletes have achieved and on top of that, they've experienced good athletic success as well."
National recognition was based on general student body and student-athlete data as provided by collegiate institutions and compiled through the U.S. Department of Education and the NCAA.
In Division II, several institutions provided such a limited amount of financial aid that they had only a few student-athletes included in the study. As a result, criteria was established in which an institution's graduation-rate information must contain a minimum of six student-athletes for it to be eligible. Ties were broken based on the institution with the largest number of graduating student-athletes.
The nine NCAA-member colleges and universities which graduated student-athletes at the highest rates are the first recipients of the USA Today-NCAA Foundation Academic Achievement Awards and will receive $25,000 to use as they choose: for additional scholarships, to begin or support existing programs, or for other purposes. Those institutions will be recognized at a reception and banquet at the new USA Today headquarters in McClean, Va., on Sept. 28.
The awards are made possible as a result of USA Today's $2.6 million gift, the largest gift the NCAA Foundation has ever received. The monies will be disbursed through this program in annual awards to winning institutions for the next five years. The balance of the money will fund the annual awards banquet and space in USA Today highlighting the winners each year while publicizing other NCAA Foundation programs.
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