The University Athletic Association has announced its fall listing of student-athletes to be honored with All-Academic accolades. The fall academic honor roll includes 575 student-athletes representing teams participating in the three men’s and three women’s fall sports for which the UAA sponsors competition.
Within the UAA, All-Academic recognition is awarded to student-athletes who have completed at least one full year of college study and who carry a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.300. The 3.300 minimum cumulative grade point average is the same academic standard used as a qualifying threshold by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the nomination of Academic All-America® candidates in all sports.
The 575 recipients of UAA All-Academic recognition represent approximately 60 percent of the total eligible UAA student-athletes — members of all teams who have completed at least one year of undergraduate study. Percentages varied by institution with a high of 69 percent of eligible student-athletes earning All-Academic honors. Percentages among sports varied with a high of 68 percent of eligible cross country runners receiving All-Academic recognition.
The UAA Presidents Council established a program of All-Academic recognition in April 1998. Qualifying student-athletes are recognized at the completion of the fall, winter, and spring seasons each year. The honor is intended to recognize the high level of academic achievement demonstrated by student-athletes who effectively balance their significant commitment of time, effort, and energy in athletic endeavor with their highly challenging academic responsibilities.
Individuals and teams throughout the UAA have been consistently recognized for their academic and athletic achievements. During the 2013-14 academic year, 35 student-athletes from UAA institutions were recognized as Academic All-Americans, 169 received All-America honors in team or individual sports, and eight garnered individual national championship accolades. In addition, 13 student-athletes were among the select group of seniors across the country named NCAA Postgraduate or Fulbright Scholars. In 2013-14 NCAA championship competition, 20 UAA teams finished in the top ten in their national championships, while another 12 finished in the top twenty.
Biennial studies completed by the Association since the 2006-07 academic year have consistently shown that the cumulative grade point averages of athletic teams have been statistically equal to or greater than the campus population GPA. In the most recent study, covering the 2010-11 academic year, 54 percent of all men’s teams and 49 percent of all women’s teams across the UAA had average cumulative GPA’s equal to or higher than the overall average for their respective campuses. Of the 65 women’s teams and 68 men’s teams included in the study, 45 women’s teams (69 percent) and 37 men’s teams (54 percent) met or exceeded the 3.30 GPA standard for nominating individuals for Academic All-America® recognition.