Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Earns AFCA Academic Achievement Award
12/5/2024 3:19:00 PM | Football
The 2024 team joins the 1995 squad as Demon Deacon teams to earn the honor from the AFCA.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For the second time in program history, Wake Forest football was recognized as one of seven programs to take home the American Football Coaches Association's 2024 Academic Achievement Award, as announced by the organization on Thursday.
The Deacs are joined by Clemson and Virginia from the Atlantic Coast Conference as the ACC is the only conference with multiple programs recognized.
This year's award marks the 13th time the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) one-year formula has been used to select the winner. From 1981 to 2007, the award was presented based on a formula used by the College Football Association and the AFCA. From 2008-17, the criteria for the AFCA's Academic Achievement Award was based on the highest NCAA GSR, and a Federal Graduation Rate of 75 percent or better. For 2018 and 2019, the AFCA used the NCAA's single-year APR. The AFCA returned to the GSR one-year formula in 2022.
Wake Football achieved a 97 percent graduation success rate as part of the Demon Deacons setting the highest graduation success rate for the fifth-straight year across all varsity programs.
The GSR is based on a six-year graduation window for student-athletes and holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and non-scholarship students at schools that do not offer athletics aid. Under GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are passed to the receiving institution's GSR cohort.
The Academic Achievement Award was established by the College Football Association in 1981. The award recognized the CFA-member Football Bowl Subdivision institution with the highest graduation rate among members of its football team. When the CFA disbanded in 1997, the AFCA stepped in to present the award.
The Deacs are joined by Clemson and Virginia from the Atlantic Coast Conference as the ACC is the only conference with multiple programs recognized.
This year's award marks the 13th time the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) one-year formula has been used to select the winner. From 1981 to 2007, the award was presented based on a formula used by the College Football Association and the AFCA. From 2008-17, the criteria for the AFCA's Academic Achievement Award was based on the highest NCAA GSR, and a Federal Graduation Rate of 75 percent or better. For 2018 and 2019, the AFCA used the NCAA's single-year APR. The AFCA returned to the GSR one-year formula in 2022.
Wake Football achieved a 97 percent graduation success rate as part of the Demon Deacons setting the highest graduation success rate for the fifth-straight year across all varsity programs.
The GSR is based on a six-year graduation window for student-athletes and holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and non-scholarship students at schools that do not offer athletics aid. Under GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are passed to the receiving institution's GSR cohort.
The Academic Achievement Award was established by the College Football Association in 1981. The award recognized the CFA-member Football Bowl Subdivision institution with the highest graduation rate among members of its football team. When the CFA disbanded in 1997, the AFCA stepped in to present the award.
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