SEATTLE – When it comes to academic success – particularly in terms of graduation – Seattle Pacific athletes are very close to acing the test on a national basis.
 
Seattle Pacific is one of 24 NCAA Division II schools to receive the first D-2 Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence. Through the the most recently measured four-year period, the Falcons graduated 97 percent of their student-athletes – the fourth-highest percentage in the country, and the only Great Northwest Athletic Conference program to top 90 percent.
 
The Presidents' Award is given to those schools with a four-year academic success rate (ASR) of 90 percent or higher.

“Our No. 1 priority is to graduate student-athletes. Our coaches stress this in our recruiting process, and the expectation is paramount,” said Erin O'Connell, SPU's athletic director. “I could not be prouder of our student-athletes as a whole, and our coaches and administrators tasked with following their progress. Not only do we excel in the classroom, but in competition, as well. We take to heart the D-2 philosophy of a balanced student-athlete.”
 
Added history professor Bill Woodward, SPU's Faculty Athletics Representative, “I'm pleased that Division II now recognizes our athletes' academic achievements, specifically their progress toward graduation, which is an SPU commitment, as well. As I interact with my fellow FARs, I am intrigued at how much of their focus must be on keeping athletes eligible. Here, it is not worrying about eligibility, but celebrating academic excellence.”
 
The only schools ahead of SPU on the national list were Saint Michael's College of Vermont (99), Stonehill of Massachusetts (98) and University of the Sciences of Philadelphia (98). The only other West Region school to receive the award was UC San Diego at 95 percent.
 
“Achieving a 90 percent graduation rate over even one year is an impressive accomplishment,” Pat O'Brien, president of West Texas A&M University and chair of the Division II Presidents Council, said in the news release announcing the awards. “To do it over four years says so much about the commitment that these schools have to the academic success of their student-athletes.”
 
The national four-year ASR average is 72 percent.
 
On the whole, Division II student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. The federal rate for the 2004 entering class of student athletes was 55 percent, compared to 49 percent for the general student body.