Press Release Provided by CACC Associate Commissioner Doug DeBiase
NEW HAVEN, Conn.- - The NCAA announced Thursday the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) is tied for third out of the 23 Division II conferences for the highest Academic Success Rate (ASR) score with a mark of 84 percent. The CACC's average was eight points higher than the Division II-wide ASR mark of 76 percent. It marked the third-consecutive year the CACC's ASR mark was eight points higher than the national average.
The announcement illustrates the CACC and its member institutions' amazing efforts to make sure student-athletes not just receive a college education, but also help to set a standard for academic excellence at their respective institutions.
The CACC's mark of 84 percent was a full two points higher than the previous year's reported mark of 82 percent, which was fourth place at that time. This year, the CACC is tied with the GLVC for third place in the latest findings. The CACC only trailed the Northeast-10 Conference (89%) and the Sunshine State Conference (88%) in the ASR rankings.
The NCAA developed the Division II ASR at the request of college and university presidents who believed the federal graduation rate was flawed. Division II's ASR data takes transfer students into account and removes likely transfers-out who left the school in good academic standing. In addition, given the partial scholarship financial aid model of Division II, the ASR data includes student-athletes not on athletically related financial aid. The result is that ASR captures more than 31,000 non-scholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data -- the national ASR score of 76 percent is for student-athletes who entered college from 2011 through 2014.
Even when utilizing the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, Division II student-athletes still out-performed the general student body by eight percent. The federal rate for Division II student-athletes increased by one point to 60 percent, while the general student body also increased by one point to 52 percent.
The CACC posted a federal graduation rate of 65 percent for its student-athletes during this period. It is tied for the fifth highest in NCAA Division II, and is five points above the national average. The 65 percent federal graduation rate was 14 points higher than the graduation rate for the general student body at member institutions (51%). The difference of 14 points is tied for the second widest margin in Division II.
"The CACC and its member schools work extremely hard in making sure that student-athletes don't just excel in their chosen sport, but also in the classroom," CACC Commissioner Dan Mara said. "Administrators throughout our conference do a great job of mentoring our student-athletes and teaching them that a college education will take them even further then they thought possible. Our student-athletes are learning valuable life lessons by achieving tremendous success in the classroom."
The following are additional notes and trends of academic success in the CACC:
4 SCHOOLS AT 90% OR BETTER
A quartet of CACC institutions posted ASR averages of 90 percent or higher, which is an increase of one from last year. Thomas Jefferson University posted a league-high mark of 98 percent, while University of the Sciences was next at 93 percent, followed by Caldwell University and Holy Family University at 91 percent each.
9 SCHOOLS OVERALL AT 80% OR BETTER
In all, nine CACC schools posted ASR marks of 80 percent or better. It marked the second-consecutive year that specific number of schools accomplished the feat. In addition to Jefferson, USciences, Caldwell and Holy Family, the other five schools to be 80 percent or higher included Chestnut Hill College (89%), Felician University (88%), Georgian Court University (87%) Goldey-Beacom College (87%) and Dominican College (81%).
SCHOOLS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
Jefferson tied for third in all of Division II for the highest ASR score of 98 percent. It was just one point off the pace set by leaders Bentley University and Saint Michael's College (99%). USciences tied for 15th (93%), while Caldwell and Holy Family (91% each) tied for 29th place.
NEARLY 100% OF CACC CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTS MEET OR EXCEED THE NATIONAL AVERAGE
Fifteen (15) of the CACC's 16 championship sports (94%) met or exceeded the national ASR score in their respective sport. Five of the 15 sports exceeded the national ASR average by at least six percent, including men's basketball at a 10-percent increase.
|
CACC Sport |
CACC ASR Score |
National ASR Score |
+/- Differential |
|
Baseball |
78% |
76% |
+2% |
|
Men's Basketball |
75% |
65% |
+10% |
|
Men's Golf |
83% |
81% |
+2% |
|
Men's Soccer |
80% |
76% |
+4% |
|
Men's Tennis |
92% |
84% |
+8% |
|
Men's T&F/XC |
80% |
72% |
+8% |
|
Women's Basketball |
83% |
83% |
- |
|
Women's Lacrosse |
94% |
92% |
+2% |
|
Women's Soccer |
90% |
88% |
+2% |
|
Softball |
94% |
88% |
+6% |
|
Women's Tennis |
93% |
91% |
+2% |
|
Women's T&F/XC |
88% |
86% |
+2% |
|
Women's Volleyball |
94% |
88% |
+6% |
THREE QUARTERS OF CACC CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTS MEET OR EXCEED THE FEDERAL GRADUATION RATE
Twelve (12) of the CACC's 16 championship sports (75%) met or exceeded the federal graduation rate in their respective sport. Five of the 12 sports exceeded the federal graduation rate average by at least five percent, including men's track & field / cross country at a 10-percent increase.
|
CACC Sport |
CACC Grad Rate |
National Grad Rate |
+/- Differential |
|
Baseball |
58% |
58% |
- |
|
Men's Basketball |
52% |
49% |
+3% |
|
Men's Golf |
67% |
61% |
+6% |
|
Men's Soccer |
62% |
56% |
+6% |
|
Men's T&F/XC |
68% |
58% |
+10% |
|
Women's Basketball |
62% |
62% |
- |
|
Women's Lacrosse |
75% |
73% |
+2% |
|
Women's Soccer |
73% |
68% |
+5% |
|
Softball |
71% |
68% |
+3% |
|
Women's Tennis |
77% |
71% |
+6% |
|
Women's Volleyball |
69% |
67% |
+2% |
44 CACC TEAMS WITH PERFECT ASR SCORES
Forty-four (44) CACC programs earned perfect ASR scores of 100 percent. It marked the third-straight year the CACC topped the 40 mark for programs with perfect ASRscores, as this year's mark of 44 was two higher than the mark of 42 last season. All 13 CACC institutions had at least one program post a 100 percent ASR score in this year's standings.
Bloomfield College (2)
Softball
Women's Soccer
Caldwell University (3)
Women's Basketball
Women's Lacrosse
Women's Volleyball
Chestnut Hill College (5)
Men's Golf
Women's Lacrosse
Softball
Women's Tennis
Women's Volleyball
Dominican College (2)
Women's Basketball
Women's Volleyball
Felician University (4)
Women's Lacrosse
Softball
Women's Soccer
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Georgian Court University (2)
Men's Lacrosse
Women's Volleyball
Goldey-Beacom College (4)
Men's Golf
Women's Tennis
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Women's Volleyball
Holy Family University (4)
Women's Basketball
Softball
Women's Soccer
Women's Volleyball
Nyack College (3)
Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Women's Lacrosse
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Post University (2)
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Women's Volleyball
Thomas Jefferson University (9)
Men's Basketball
Men's Golf
Men's Soccer
Women's Lacrosse
Softball
Women's Soccer
Women's Tennis
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Women's Volleyball
University of the Sciences (3)
Men's Basketball
Men's Tennis
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Wilmington University (1)
Softball