In the thick of competition for the 2006 Southland Conference Commissioner’s Cup All-Sports Championship, Sam Houston State athletes are producing at record highs in the classroom.
Student-athletes at Sam Houston State produced an overall grade point average of 2.76 during the 2005 fall semester, the fourth semester in a row that the Bearkats have produced an overall GPA higher than 2.75.
Also, according to the annual NCAA graduate rates report announced this month, Sam Houston State’s student-athlete graduation success rate is 60 percent, an athletic department record.
Sam Houston director of athletics Bobby Williams and assistant athletic director for academic services Chris Thompson announced the Bearkats’ academic performances for the 2005 fall semester Tuesday.
The performance in the classroom during the fall marks the 27 th consecutive academic semester that the overall department GPA has been 2.30 or higher (on the 4.0 scale). For the past 20 semesters, that average has been 2.5 or higher.
This fall, 120 Bearkat student-athletes had GPAs of 3.0 or higher and 19 produced perfect 4.0 semester averages.
“We are extremely proud of our athletes’ achievements in the classroom and commend our coaching staff for the tremendous job they do in recruiting quality student-athletes,” Williams said. “The number one goal for each of our sports teams is to have our athletes earn their Sam Houston State degrees. To achieve a 60 percent graduation rate in the latest NCAA report is exciting. What is even more impressive from that report is the fact that 90 percent of student athletes who complete their eligibility at Sam Houston earn their degree.”
Both the graduation rate and grade point average for Sam Houston State ‘s athletes are higher than the average for the overall student population at the university.
Each of Sam Houston State’s sports teams achieved a grade point average of 2.15 or better this fall. Tennis led all sports with a 3.29 GPA and women’s golf was second with a 3.20 mark.