The University Athletic Association has announced its winter listing of student-athletes to be honored with All-Academic Recognition. The winter academic honor roll includes 749 student-athletes representing teams participating in the five men’s and four women’s winter 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 749 recipients of UAA All-Academic Recognition represent approximately 69 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 82.6 percent of eligible student-athletes earning All-Academic honors. Percentages among sports varied with a high of 76.0 percent of eligible indoor track and field athletes 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 2018-19 academic year, 39 student-athletes from UAA institutions were recognized as Academic All-Americans, 155 received All-America honors in team or individual sports, and 42 garnered individual or relay national championship event titles or national Player of the Year honors. In addition, 12 student-athletes were among the select group of seniors across the country named NCAA Postgraduate or Fulbright Scholars. In 2018-19 NCAA championship competition, 30 UAA teams finished in the top ten in their national championships with five winning NCAA titles and another five earning runner-up finishes in NCAA championships.
Biennial studies completed by the Association over the last 15 years have consistently shown that the cumulative grade point averages of athletic teams have been statistically equal to or higher than the general campus population GPA. In the most recent study, covering the 2016-17 academic year, 50 percent of all women’s and all men’s teams across the UAA had average cumulative GPA’s equal to or higher than the overall average for their respective campuses. Of the 68 women’s teams and 70 men’s teams included in the study, 60 women’s teams (88 percent) and 49 men’s teams (70 percent) met or exceeded the 3.30 GPA standard for nominating individuals for Academic All-America recognition.