ROSEMONT, Ill. – One hundred forty-two Penn State student-athletes earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors, the conference announced on July 13. Of the 142, 26 student athletes were recognized for achieving perfect 4.0s.
The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award is presented to student-athletes who have recorded a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher during the previous academic year. Penn State's seven highest Big Ten Distinguished Scholar totals have come in the past seven years.
The athletic department's academic success included 409 student-athletes earning Academic All-Big Ten honors and 165 Nittany Lions who graduated during the 2024-25 academic year (December and May).
Penn State Big Ten Distinguished Scholar totals since 2017-18:
2025-26: 142
2024-25: 150
2023-24: 165
2022-23: 174 (non-alternate grading school record)
2021-22: 157
2020-21: 183*
2019-20: 144*
2018-19: 117
2017-18: 90
* - alternate grading system used due to COVID-19.
A total of 25 of Penn State teams had at least one Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (men's and women's cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field are combined).
Women’s track and field led the way with a program record 21 honorees, besting last year’s high of 19. Men’s gymnastics also set a program record with six, besting its previous high of five in 2017-18 and 2011-12.
The 142 honorees boost Penn State to a total of 1,926 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars since the program was established by the Big Ten faculty representatives in 2008-09 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program.
Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be in at least their second academic year at their institution. The Distinguished Scholar Award encompasses only students with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school.
Graduation Success Rates
Penn State student-athletes continue to register record-breaking graduation rates and perform well above their peers nationwide. The Nittany Lions posted a record-tying 93% NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and 11 programs earned perfect 100% ratings. This is the eight consecutive year the Nittany Lions posted a record or record-tying performance in the classroom, according to data reported by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The NCAA's annual graduation rates report of Division I institutions across the nation revealed Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a GSR of 93% to equal the school’s all-time record of 93%, which was set in the 2023 NCAA report. Nittany Lion students posted a 93% graduation rate compared to the 90% average for all Division I institutions for student-athletes entering from 2014-15 academic year through the 2017-18 academic year.
Penn State student-athletes have logged a GSR in the 88-93% range during each of the past 18 NCAA reports, improving from 88% in the 2015 report to a record-tying 93% report in the 2024 report.