BELLINGHAM, Wash. – For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Western Washington University Department of Athletics has earned the prestigious NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence.

 

WWU was among 44 NCAA Division II athletic programs to earn the award in 2023 and one of just six public institutions joining Georgia College, University of Minnesota-Crookston, Michigan Tech, Truman State and Colorado School of Mines.

 

WWU's 15 varsity intercollegiate sports programs recorded a school-record 91% Academic Success Rate to earn the award for the sixth time dating back to 2017. School athletic departments that achieve a four-year academic success rate of 90 percent or higher earn the Presidents' Award. Western also earned the award in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and now 2023, barely missing the mark by one percent in 2019.

 

"The more I learn about our programs, coaches and student-athletes, the more I am impressed with the level of excellence they strive for in every area," said WWU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk, who took over as AD at his alma mater in July. "To achieve this milestone academic award for the sixth time is a testament to the commitment made by all of our student-athletes and coaches for an extended period. We are very proud to represent WWU with this great honor."

 

The Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial collegiate enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletic scholarships. This year's ASR and FGR tracks student-athletes who entered college in the 2016-17 academic year. The FGR tracks the six-year graduation rate of freshmen who received athletic aid in a four-year cohort from 2013 to 2016, as prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education. 

 

The Division II ASR includes transfers into a school in the calculation and removes those who transferred out of the school while academically eligible. The ASR also includes over 30,000 non-scholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data. Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by 7%. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 60%, while the general student body federal rate is 53%.

 

"Congratulations to the 44 schools who have earned this prestigious award," said Steven Shirley, president of Minot State and chair of the Division II Presidents Council. "It takes a collective effort from the student-athletes, coaches, university and athletic administrators to earn an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher, and I'm very excited to recognize these schools."

 

WWU was joined by Great Northwest Athletic Conference member schools Seattle Pacific University and Saint Martin's University as 2023 NCAA Presidents' Award Winners for Academic Excellence. This is the first time since the award was founded in 2010 that three GNAC schools have earned the honor.

 

Here is the list of NCAA Division II member schools that earned the NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence in 2023. In addition to WWU, public schools that are part of this list of 44 schools include Michigan Tech, Truman State, Colorado School of Mines, Minnesota-Crookston and Georgia College. The remaining 38 are all private institutions.

 

 

Western Washington University is a four-year public institution located in Bellingham, Washington, featuring over 300 student-athletes that compete for 15 intercollegiate athletic teams at the NCAA Division II level and in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. WWU Athletics has finished in the top 50 in the NCAA II Learfield Directors' Cup standings in 16 of the past 17 years, and in the top 20 in eight of the last 13 years (no award in 2019-20 or 2020-21). WWU's programs have won 12 team national championships, most recently the 2022 women's soccer team and the 2017 women's rowing team. Outside of competition. WWU's student-athletes have compiled an academic success at 90% or better in six of the last seven years, earning the NCAA's President's Award for Academic Excellence six times. The 2022-23 athletic season was another banner year for the Vikings, earning the GNAC All-Sports Trophy for the 14th time while capturing seven conference titles and having 10 teams advance to the NCAA postseason.

 

For more information on WWU's 15 varsity sports programs, visit WWUVikings.com. Fans and alumni can also track all the teams via social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @WWUAthletics.