INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Conference Carolinas member Emmanuel University was one of 44 NCAA schools to be recognized for the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence who have achieved an Academic Success Rate of 90 percent or higher. 

The Lions athletic department received an ASR of 91 percent to make the list. 

"It takes a village to support student-athletes and create the balanced environment for them to thrive academically and athletically," said Jason Jones, associate athletics director for compliance at Catawba and chair of the Division II Academic Requirements Committee. "This prestigious honor recognizes 44 schools that have achieved academic excellence, and I'm thrilled to congratulate them."

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 nonscholarship 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 six percentage points. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 59 percent, while the general student body federal rate is 53 percnet.