Penn State Intercom......March 22, 2001

More than 50 percent of University's
student athletes earn 3.0 or greater GPA

A summary of academic performance for the 2000 fall semester has revealed that 135 student-athletes posted a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, Athletic Director Tim Curley has announced.

For the semester just concluded, a total of 360 student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or above, an impressive 50.4 percent of the 714 young men and women who are actively participating in the University's 29 varsity sports, according to Diana Kenepp, director of the Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes. There are approximately 800 student-athletes at the University, including those who are medically unable to participate or whose competitive eligibility has been exhausted but are working toward their degree.

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 Lion student-athletes who began their careers in 1993-94 graduated in six years, compared to a 58 percent national average. Penn State has had 17 student-athletes earn Verizon All-America honors the past two years, including eight in 1999-2000, second-most to receive the recognition at the University in one academic year. Football player Jordan Caruso earned the distinction this past fall for the second consecutive year, giving Penn State 44 Verizon Academic All-America selections in the past seven years.

The University also had 70 Academic All-Big Ten selections for the fall sports (cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher), the highest total for the University's fall sports. In 1999, 60 Lion student-athletes were so honored in the fall season. Penn State has led all Big Ten schools in fall honorees each of the past three years and in total honorees for each of the past two years.

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