INDIANAPOLIS – Ranking towards the top of the list among the NCAA’s annual academic success rate report, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference was once again well represented scholastically.
The GNAC posted an academic success rate of 83%, tied for fifth-best among the 23 conferences that compete within the NCAA Division II. The conference also posted a student-athlete federal graduation rate of 63%, tied for seventh highest among Division II constituents. The data released by the NCAA reflects student-athletes who entered college from 2015-2018.
In addition to the widespread success across the GNAC, Northwest Nazarene was singled out as 1 of 43 schools in Division II to earn the Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence. Reserved for schools achieving an academic success rate of 90% or higher, the award has been given each of the last 15 years to recognize the top performing institutions academically. NNU, which
won the GNAC academic all-sports championship for 2024-25, posted an academic success rate of 93% to earn its place on the list.
“To see a continuous trend of success among our student-athletes within their academic performance is something the GNAC is very proud of,” said Commissioner
Bridget Johnson Tetteh. “Congratulations also to Northwest Nazarene for earning the presidents’ award – achieving an ASR over 90% demonstrates tremendous leadership from the administration and a collective commitment to academic excellence by NNU’s student-athletes.”
The academic success rate differs from the federal graduation rate in that it accounts for the outcomes of student-athletes who transfer from one institution to another (and removes students who left the institution in good academic standing). Because of this, the ASR captures approximately 40% more student-athletes than the federal rate.
The Division II ASR also measures outcomes for more than 30,000 non-scholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.
| GNAC Academic Data History |
| Cohort |
Grad. Rates (GNAC S-As) |
Grad. Rates (All GNAC Students) |
Acad. Success Rate (GNAC S-As) |
| 2001-04 |
56% |
53% |
76% |
| 2002-05 |
58% |
55% |
75% |
| 2003-06 |
60% |
56% |
75% |
| 2004-07 |
61% |
56% |
74% |
| 2005-08 |
62% |
56% |
75% |
| 2006-09 |
60% |
56% |
75% |
| 2007-10 |
61% |
56% |
76% |
| 2008-11 |
61% |
57% |
77% |
| 2009-12 |
62% |
56% |
78% |
| 2010-13 |
65% |
57% |
79% |
| 2011-14 |
65% |
57% |
80% |
| 2012-15 |
66% |
58% |
80% |
| 2013-16 |
65% |
58% |
80% |
| 2014-17 |
63% |
58% |
82% |
| 2015-18 |
63% |
58% |
83% |
| Note: Data reporting is done on a 10-year cohort lag (2025 reporting was for 2015-18 first-year cohorts). |