University of Connecticut Athletics
Connecticut Honored By AFCA For Graduation Rate
6/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. (June 23, 2005) – For the second time in three years, the University of Connecticut’s football program has been recognized by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) for its high graduation rate. UConn was one of 25 Division I-A programs honored for graduating at least 70-percent of its football student-athletes and is the lone school in the BIG EAST Conference’s 2005 alignment to be so recognized.
Just as impressive is how UConn combined this academic success with on-field success. Only eight schools nationally both graduated at least 70-percent of its football players last year and also won a bowl game. The Motor City Bowl Champion Huskies join Boston College, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Northern Illinois, Southern Miss. and Texas Tech in that regard.
The Huskies were also especially recognized in 2003 after graduating over 90-percent of its student-athletes. UConn was the only public institution to have done so in that year’s survey.
“This means a lot to me to have this program be honored by the AFCA for graduation rates in two of the past three years now,” UConn head coach Randy Edsall says. “This is a great credit to Ellen Rennie and her staff at CPIA (Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes). They do a lot of hard work that no one ever sees and it is nice for us to be rewarded with this honor so that they can get a share of the limelight for all that they do behind the scenes to help this team.”
The overall Academic Achievement Award was shared between Duke and Northwestern, both of which graduated 100% of its football seniors. The survey focused on scholarship football players who initially entered college during the 1999-2000 academic year.
