INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA has released the latest Division II graduation rate data, including the Division's Academic Success Rate (ASR), and the results brought good news for Augustana and Augustana athletics.

Augustana's student-athlete academic success rate stood at 96 percent. By being above 90 percent, Augustana has received the President's Award for Academic Excellence. 

Emmanuel (Georgia) was the top performer, earning an ASR of 100%, followed by Hillsdale with an ASR of 99%. Bentley and Rollins each earned an ASR of 98%, and Augustana rounded out the top five with an ASR of 96%.

The Division II ASR includes transfers into a school in the calculation and removes those who transferred out of the school while academically eligible. The ASR also includes over 30,000 non-scholarship student-athletes in the division who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.

Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by five percentage points. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 58%, while the general student body federal rate is 53%.

This is the 15th year the award has been given. Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota Crookston joined Augustana as one of the 43 Division II schools that have achieved an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher.