Sun Devil Football Wins On The Field And In The Classroom

TEMPE, Ariz.—The Arizona State football team was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on Monday for its achievement of graduating 90-percent or more of its student-athletes from the freshman class of 2007 according to single year graduation success rate data.

In 2007, the Sun Devils’ football GSR was 95 percent, making ASU one of just 13 institutions to reach 90 percent or higher that year. The overall four year GSR for football in 2007 was 69 percent.

Duke, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Stanford shared the AFCA’s 2014 Academic Achievement Award, presented by the Touchdown Club of Memphis, and ASU is one of the 61 other institutions recognized for graduating 75 percent or more of their football student-athletes.

Five other Pac-12 institutions were also honored by the AFCA.

The AFCA uses the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) formula to select the winner. In 2014, ASU tied its school record GSR with a mark of 82-percent, based on student-athletes who entered college as freshmen in 2004-2007 and ultimately entered ASU on athletic aid as freshmen or transfers.

The Academic Achievement Award was established by the College Football Association in 1981. The award recognized the CFA-member Football Bowl Subdivision institution with the highest graduation rate among members of its football team. When the CFA disbanded in 1997, the AFCA stepped in to present the award and conduct a graduation rate survey that encompassed all members of the FBS.