INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Florida Southern College's Department of Athletics received the NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence after posting a 92-percent Academic Success Rate for student-athletes graduating within six years of eligibility for the incoming class of 2018. The Moccasins were one of 43 schools and just one of six Sunshine State Conference schools to be present on the list where the Mocs finished in the top 20 of all Division II institutions.
"I am incredibly proud of the work our student-athletes put into their academic success," said Director of Athletics and Dean of Wellness Drew Howard. "Earning the NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence again this year is a tremendous recognition of their dedication. I also want to thank the entire Florida Southern community—our faculty, staff, and coaches—who pour so much into our student-athletes. It truly is ONE BIG TEAM."
The NCAA Academic Success Rate (ASR) is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial college enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletic scholarships.
It marks the seventh-straight time for the Moccasins to appear on the NCAA DII ASR list where Florida Southern posted a 92-percent graduation rate from 2015-18 for student-athletes that had graduated within six years of original enrollment.
Florida Southern was joined by Eckerd College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida Institute of Technology, Nova Southeastern University and Rollins College as the only six SSC institutions on the 2025 list. The Northeast-10 Conference led the division with seven athletics programs achieving scores of 90% or more, followed by the Sunshine State Conference with six.
About the Academic Success Rate
Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial college enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletic scholarships.
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 nonscholarship student-athletes in the division 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 six percentage points. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 59-percent, while the general student body federal rate is 53-percent.
| Institution |
Conference |
ASR |
| Adelphi University |
Northeast-10 Conference |
91% |
| Assumption University |
Northeast-10 Conference |
93% |
| Augustana University (South Dakota) |
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference |
96% |
| Bentley University |
Northeast-10 Conference |
98% |
| Biola University |
Pacific West Conference |
92% |
| Cedarville University |
Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
91% |
| Chestnut Hill College |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
90% |
| Concordia University, St. Paul |
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference |
93% |
| Dominican University of California |
Pacific West Conference |
95% |
| D'Youville University |
East Coast Conference |
91% |
| Eckerd College |
Sunshine State Conference |
90% |
| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Florida) |
Sunshine State Conference |
91% |
| Emmanuel University (Georgia) |
Conference Carolinas |
100% |
| Flagler College |
Peach Belt Conference |
91% |
| Florida Institute of Technology |
Sunshine State Conference |
92% |
| Florida Southern College |
Sunshine State Conference |
92% |
| Georgia College |
Peach Belt Conference |
93% |
| Hillsdale College |
Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
99% |
| Holy Family University |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
91% |
| Lake Superior State University |
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
90% |
| Maryville University of Saint Louis |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
90% |
| Mercy University |
East Coast Conference |
95% |
| Michigan Technological University |
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
92% |
| Molloy University |
East Coast Conference |
92% |
| Northwest Nazarene University |
Great Northwest Athletic Conference |
93% |
| Nova Southeastern University |
Sunshine State Conference |
91% |
| Oklahoma Christian University |
Lone Star Conference |
92% |
| Pace University |
Northeast-10 Conference |
90% |
| Point Loma Nazarene University |
Pacific West Conference |
95% |
| Rockhurst University |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
92% |
| Rollins College |
Sunshine State Conference |
98% |
| Saint Anselm College |
Northeast-10 Conference |
90% |
| Saint Michael's College |
Northeast-10 Conference |
95% |
| Seton Hill University |
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference |
93% |
| Southern New Hampshire University |
Northeast-10 Conference |
91% |
| Texas Woman's University |
Lone Star Conference |
90% |
| Thomas Jefferson University |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
94% |
| Trevecca Nazarene University |
Gulf South Conference |
94% |
| University of Bridgeport |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference |
92% |
| University of Illinois Springfield |
Great Lakes Valley Conference |
90% |
| University of Minnesota, Crookston |
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference |
91% |
| University of Texas at Dallas* |
Lone Star Conference |
91% |
| Westmont College |
Pacific West Conference |
92% |
*Reclassifying Member, Year 2 of two-year expedited membership process
