Truman State University has been honored with the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence amongst student-athletes for achieving a four-year Academic Success Rate of 92 percent.

Truman graduated 92 percent of all of its student-athletes from the 2002-05 cohort within six years of original enrollment and was the only MIAA program to achieve a rate of 90 percent or greater. The program’s future conference (effective 2013-14) – the Great Lakes Valley Conference–placed four programs amongst the 26 total schools recognized, including Maryville, William Jewell (Mo.), Rockhurst and Bellarmine (Ky.) and was second only to the Northeast-10 in conference recognition.

The Division II Academic Requirements Committee created the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence to recognize programs achieving long-term academic success. The honor is intended to call attention to those programs and is not intended as a ranking.

The Academic Success Rate (ASR) is a measure that reflects the unique qualities of Division II. It measures graduation rates for virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletically-related financial aid. The national four-year ASR average is 72 percent.

Truman State University has been recognized nationally for its academics for many years, including once again being named the No. 1 Public University in the Midwest Region by U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.” This recognition marks the 16th year Truman has been awarded this top ranking. In addition, the University was ranked in the top-20 on Kiplinger’s recently released list of the 100 “Best Values in Public Colleges,” placing it as the highest-rated Missouri school and the only university in the state to be included in the top 65.