CLEVELAND - For the sixth time in the past seven years, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference leads the nation in Division II Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Awards. The PSAC tallied 2,051 honorees for the 2024-25 season, the most in Division II by nearly 300 student-athletes, saw an increase of 6.88% in student athlete nominations and had 11 institutions have at least 100 honorees.
The Academic Achievement Awards, in its 18th year, is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level.
In total, there was a record-breaking 22,740 student-athletes from 202 institutions recognized for the 2024-25 Academic Achievement Awards, which is the highest total of student-athletes recognized since the beginning of the awards program. This is the first time since the program's beginning that there were more than 22,000 student athletes recognized.
“Since its inception, this program has been dedicated to celebrating the exceptional student-athletes who define excellence across our Division II landscape,” said Traci Murphy, vice president for athletics at Daemen University and current D2 ADA President. “This year, we are thrilled to recognize a record number of deserving individuals, reflecting the unprecedented dedication within our division - not only in athletics, but in the classroom as well. This year’s record-breaking submissions for both individuals and schools serve as a testament to the Division II way. Thanks to the administrators that nominated these outstanding individuals, and much-deserved congratulations to our 22,000-plus recipients.”
Independently, PSAC’s East Stroudsburg (242 honorees) had the third-most honorees in all of Division II. ESU was just one of 14 total and three PSAC institutions to boast over 200 individual award winners. Slippery Rock (209 honorees) placed No. 11 on the list followed by Seton Hill (208 honorees) at No. 12. The Great Midwest Athletic Conference’s Tiffin University led all institutions with 300 honorees.
Since the inception of the award's program in 2007-08, there has been a total of 190,151 student-athlete nominees recognized for their academic achievements at the Division II level.
In order for a student-athlete to receive an Academic Achievement Award, the athletics director of the Division II institution must be a current dues-paying member of the D2 ADA.
Also, the student-athlete must:
- have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale
- have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work
- have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year
The following PSAC institutions submitted student-athletes for the 2024-25 Division 2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards. To view the full list of submissions, click here.
| Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference |
|
| Bloomsburg |
160 |
| California |
128 |
| Clarion |
55 |
| East Stroudsburg University |
242 |
| Gannon University |
164 |
| IUP |
130 |
| Kutztown University |
157 |
| Lock Haven |
119 |
| Mansfield |
43 |
| Pitt-Johnstown |
58 |
| Seton Hill |
208 |
| Shepherd |
90 |
| Shippensburg University |
137 |
| Slippery Rock University |
209 |
| West Chester University |
151 |
| TOTAL |
2051 |
About D2 ADA: The D2 ADA is the first organization of its kind to provide educations and networking opportunities; enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics; and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of Division II athletics directors. For more information about the D2 ADA, please visit
www.div2ada.com. The D2 ADA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 61
st year. For more information on NACDA and the 19 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit
www.nacda.com