April 19, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. -- A school-record 18 of Northwestern's 19 varsity programs achieved team GPAs of 3.00 or better in the winter quarter of 2011, highlighting a stellar academic quarter for the Wildcats.
Northwestern's women's swimming and diving squad led the way among all Wildcat programs with a 3.6 team GPA during the grading period, matching its mark from the fall of 2010 which earned it a Scholar All-America Team honor from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). That GPA ranked NU first among all BCS conference programs and second in the country as a whole behind Gardner-Webb's 3.63 mark.
Among all of NU's 19 varsity programs, the Wildcats' student-athlete GPA for winter quarter 2011 was 3.17, tied for NU's fourth-highest mark. All 19 varsity teams had 2.90 or better GPAs for the third time in school history. In addition, all 19 squads have attained cumulative GPAs at or above 2.95 for the academic year with 14 of those teams over a 3.00.
Out of Northwestern's total student-athlete population of 449 people, 294 (65 percent) earned GPAs of 3.00 or better last quarter, with 142 of them over a 3.50 and 33 attaining a perfect 4.00.
"Our student-athletes' tremendous work in the classroom continues to establish new standards of excellence," Director of Athletics and Recreation Jim Phillips said. "In addition to these outstanding accomplishments, Wildcat athletes have earned 132 Academic All-Big Ten awards this year, which is 11 more than our school-record at this time last season. I cannot emphasize enough how proud we are of our student-athletes."
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!