NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence recipient Oklahoma Christian University leads the list of Lone Star Conference institutions and sport programs noted for classroom achievement in the latest Academic Success Rate data released by Division II.
The Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence recognizes Division II institutions who record an Academic Success Rate (ASR) at or above 90 percent. In 2024 the awards are presented for a 14th year and tracked student-athlete progress and graduation over the last six academic years (2017-23).
Oklahoma Christian is a first-time recipient of the Academic Excellence Award and posted an ASR of 92 encompassing all of its athletics teams over the latest six-year reporting period. Two of the Eagles' sport programs – women's basketball and women's golf – tallied perfect 100 ASRs followed by softball (95 ASR) and women's soccer (93 ASR).
For a second year, the LSC posted its highest by sport ASR in women's golf at 93, an improvement of four percentage points from the previous year with six women's golf teams recording a perfect 100 ASR. Softball followed at 84 ASR (two teams with a 100), women's tennis at 83 ASR (three teams with a 100) and women's soccer at 82 ASR (one team with a 100).
Several LSC athletics teams recorded an ASR at or above 90 percent, including 20 programs with perfect 100 ASR and an additional 24 teams scoring between a 90-99 percent ASR.
LSC sport programs achieving a perfect 100 percent ASR:
- Angelo State: Women's Tennis
- Cameron: Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Softball
- Lubbock Christian: Women's Basketball
- Oklahoma Christian: Women's Basketball, Women's Golf
- St. Mary's: Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Softball, Women's Tennis
- Sul Ross State: Men's Soccer
- Texas A&M-Kingsville: Women's Tennis
- UT Tyler: Men's Tennis, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Volleyball
- West Texas A&M: Women's Golf
- Western New Mexico: Men's Golf, Women's Golf
LSC sport programs with an ASR of 90-99 percent:
- Angelo State: Women's Golf, Volleyball
- Cameron: Men's Tennis
- DBU: Volleyball
- Lubbock Christian: Men's Basketball, Volleyball
- Midwestern State: Women's Basketball
- Oklahoma Christian: Softball, Women's Soccer
- St. Edward's: Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer, Softball, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Volleyball
- St. Mary's: Women's Soccer, Volleyball
- Sul Ross State: Softball
- Texas Woman's: Women's Soccer
- UT Permian Basin: Women's Tennis
- UT Tyler: Men's Golf, Softball, Women's Tennis
- West Texas A&M: Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer
The University of Texas at Dallas, reclassifying to Division II from Division III and joining the LSC as a full member July 1, 2025, also earned the Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence recognition with a 92 ASR.
Notes
- Calculation of the NCAA Division II ASR includes student-athletes who initially enroll or transfer into an institution and removes those who left the school in good academic standing. The most recent Academic Success Rate for the incoming class of 2017 shows 77 percent of Division II student-athletes graduated within six years of initial enrollment.
- The students in the most recently added cohort (2017 entry) would typically have been in the second semester of their third academic year when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. The full pandemic-related impacts on collegiate graduation rates will not be completely known for several years.
The Lone Star Conference is committed to providing an elite competitive athletic environment for its NCAA Division II member institutions and nurturing its student-athletes' academic excellence, ethical and social development, and fostering leadership and community engagement. Founded on April 25, 1931, the LSC began as a five-member conference of Texas-based schools and is now a 17-member league spanning three states – Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The LSC conducts conference championships in 19 sports (nine men and 10 women).