Temple University Athletics
Record Number of Temple Student-Athletes Post Spring GPA of 3.0 or Above
5.24.17 | General
PHILADELPHIA - Temple University's student-athletes continue to achieve at an extremely high level where it matters most - in their studies. This is evidenced by the record 69.3 percent of Temple student-athletes that earned a grade-point average of 3.0 or above for the spring 2017 semester.
This spring also marked the 12th consecutive semester with 50 percent or more student-athletes achieving a 3.0 GPA or greater, and the fifth consecutive semester of 60 percent posting that mark. Overall, the combined GPA was a stellar 3.18 for the spring, marking the 11th straight semester that Temple student-athletes as a whole have achieved at least a 3.0 GPA.
"Congratulations to our student-athletes for their amazing success in the classroom," said Director of Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft. "I would also like to commend our academic support team, led by Resnick Center Senior Director Justin Miller, for all their hard work as well as our coaches, who continue to put success in the classroom as a top priority. Without this teamwork these high marks would not be possible."
Sixteen programs earned a semester GPA of 3.0 or greater, up from 15 for the previous two semesters. Women's cross country led the way with a 3.75 GPA - the highest of any sport GPA on record - while men's cross country earned a 3.60 GPA. Those two programs, along with men's tennis, field hockey, lacrosse, women's soccer, women's track & field and volleyball, all earned team GPA's of 3.4 or above for the spring.
Women's cross country, men's cross country, women's track & field and men's crew all set program records for the highest-ever semester GPA. Both women's basketball and gymnastics posted their highest spring GPA's in four years.
Seventeen of Temple's 19 programs saw 50 percent or more of their rosters achieve at least a 3.0 GPA this spring, led by field hockey (95 percent) and men's cross country (91 percent).
Through the spring 2017 semester, 16 programs have cumulative GPA's of 3.0 or above, led by volleyball (3.56) and men's tennis (3.54). Eight programs improved their cumulative GPA's since the fall semester, and eight have cumulative GPA's of 3.4 or above (men's cross country, men's golf, men's tennis, women's cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, women's soccer and volleyball).
Near the conclusion of the spring semester at Temple, the NCAA released its Academic Performance Rate (APR) data, highlighting even more academic success for the Owls.
With an average multi-year APR of 991, Temple ranks 12th in the nation among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions, and leads all full members of the American Athletic Conference (Navy is an affiliate member for football only). Temple also remains one of just 17 FBS institutions with all sports having multi-year APR's of 970 or greater.
Seven Temple athletic teams - a new record - were publicly recognized for their multi-year APR. Men's tennis was recognized for the fourth straight year while women's tennis and men's cross country garnered the honor for a second year in a row. Men's and women's basketball, women's cross country and women's soccer were also honored by the NCAA.
Eleven Temple University athletic programs (men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis, women's fencing, women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse, women's soccer and women's volleyball) had perfect 1,000 APR scores for the 2015-16 academic year, marking the fifth consecutive academic year with 10 or more perfect scores.
The Owls' football team, coming off an American Athletic Conference Championship, is one of only two programs (Purdue University) to never show a decline in its APR figure since the metric was formulated in 2004.
Fourteen of Temple's teams rank in the top five in their respective sports in their conferences, including seven teams that were publicly recognized last week by the NCAA and ranked first (men's cross country, men's tennis, women's basketball, women's cross country, women's rowing and women's soccer).
