Aug. 10, 2005

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University ranks seventh on a list of the top academic and athletic colleges/universities in the country at the NCAA Division II level in the third annual Collegiate Power Rankings announced by The National Collegiate Scouting Association.

UC San Diego tops the Division II list with Stonehill MA, Truman State MO, Drury MO and Bentley MA rounding out the top five.

Western is the only top 10 ranked DII school in the northwest with Seattle U. 18th and Seattle Pacific 29th. Four other West Coast DII universities listed are Cal State Bakersfield 62nd, Cal Poly Pomona 77th, Cal State Los Angeles 86th and Cal State Dominguez Hills 88th.

NCSA's power rankings are calculated for each school by averaging the U.S. News & World Report ranking, the U.S. Sports Academy Director's Cup rank and the student-athlete graduation rate of each school. The U.S. Sports Academy Director's Cup ranking evaluates the strengths of NCAA Athletic departments, while the U.S. News & World Report ranking recognizes institutions of academic excellence. The student-athlete graduation rates are based on those provided by the NCAA.

Western ranked 18th in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, 42nd in the final NCAA II Director's Cup ranking, and eighth in Division II student-athlete graduation rates.

The NCSA matches college coaches with the right student-athletes by building lasting relationships with college coaches and empowering student-athletes to achieve the best education possible. The NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings provide data that allows prospective student-athletes and parents to evaluate the particular strengths of universities based on academic and athletic factors, as well as student-athlete graduation rates.

The NCSA was founded in April of 2000 by Chris Krause, a former full scholarship football player at Vanderbilt.