SSC Posts Top Division II ASR for 6th Straight Year

GRAPEVNE, Texas -- For the sixth consecutive year, the Sunshine State Conference has posted the top NCAA Division II Academic Success Rate.

The Academic Success Rate for all 23 Division II conferences was released at the NCAA Convention, which was held in Grapevine, Texas, Jan. 16-19. SSC member institutions posted an ASR of 86 percent to again lead all conferences. The Northeast-10 Conference placed second in the rankings with an ASR of 85 percent. The leagues have claimed the top two spots in the conference-by-conference comparison each year since the ASR performance rankings were first released in January 2008.

"We are very excited to again receive the distinction of having the highest ASR rate of any Division II conference," SSC Commissioner Jay Jones said. "This is a special honor for our coaches, student-athletes and administrators and it speaks to the value that our member schools put on success in the classroom. They work hard to maintain this distinction year after year and we are very proud of those efforts."

Data for the 2012 version of the ASR was compiled by following the progress of the 2002-05 cohort. The national four-year ASR for all DII student-athletes remained steady at 72 percent. SSC student-athletes performed well above that average with a composite ASR of 86. All told, 89 percent of the 123 teams that were counted for SSC member institutions exceeding the national average of 72.

A number of SSC teams posted a perfect 100 percent Academic Success Rate, and each member institution had at least one program achieve a perfect mark. They included:

- Barry softball;
- Eckerd softball;
- Florida Tech men's golf, women's golf, women's tennis, and men's track;
- Florida Southern men's tennis, women's tennis, and softball;
- Lynn men's basketball, women's golf, softball, men's tennis, and volleyball;
- Nova Southeastern women's golf;
- Rollins men's swimming, women's swimming, women's basketball, women's soccer, volleyball, women's tennis, men's track, and women's track;
- Saint Leo women's tennis; and
- Tampa women's tennis.

Along with the Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR), the ASR is a tool used by the NCAA to measure the academic progress of student-athletes competing within the Association. The NCAA developed the Division II ASR at the request of college and university presidents who believed the federal graduation rate was flawed. Both the Division I GSR and the DII ASR take into account transfer students. However, given the partial-scholarship model of Division II, the ASR also includes student-athletes not receiving athletically-related financial aid. The ASR also removes students from the cohort who left the institution while academically eligible to compete.

Top Ten NCAA Division II ASR Conferences
1. Sunshine State Conference - 86%
2. Northeast-10 Conference - 85%
3. Great Lakes Valley Conference - 80%
4. Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference - 78%
5. Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference - 77%
T6. East Coast Conference - 75%
T6. Great Northwest Athletic Conference - 75%
8. Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - 74%
9. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference - 73%
T10. Conference Carolinas - 72%
T10. Pacific West Conference - 72%