A summary of academic performance for the 1999 fall semester has revealed that 163 Penn State student-athletes posted a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, according to Tim Curley, athletic director.

The Dean's List honorees included 16 athletic team members who had perfect 4.0 averages for the semester.

For the semester just concluded, Curley said that a total of 370 student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or above, 52.1 percent of the 710 young men and women who are actively participating in Penn State's 29 varsity sports. There are approximately 800 Penn State student-athletes, including those who are medically unable to participate or whose competitive eligibility has been exhausted but are working toward their degree.

For the 1998 fall semester, there were 159 student-athletes with a 3.5 GPA or higher and a total of 365 with a 3.0 GPA or above, according to Diana Kenepp, director of the Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes.

The efforts of the University's Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes again was reflected in the latest NCAA graduation rate report, which showed that 78 percent of Penn State student-athletes who began their careers in 1992-93 graduated in six years, compared to a 58 percent national average.

Penn State had nine student-athletes earn GTE All-America honors in 1998-99, the most ever to receive the recognition at the University in one academic year.