UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Seven Penn State teams have received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA for earning high scores in the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation. All seven teams earned multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent nationally for their respective sport through the 2013-14 academic year.

The seven Penn State squads recognized by the NCAA are: men's cross country, women's cross country, field hockey, women's golf, women's hockey, men's tennis and wrestling. The NCAA also recognized the Nittany Lion men's cross country, women's cross country, field hockey, women's golf and men's tennis teams for their academic success last year.

Penn State's seven honored teams were tied for No. 3 among public institutions that are part of the 65 College Football Playoff automatic qualifying conference institutions and Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions were tied for No. 9 overall among the 65 institutions.

The NCAA has recognized a total of 23 Penn State teams with a Public Recognition Award over the past three years. Penn State has placed fourth or higher in the number of Big Ten Conference teams earning a Public Recognition Award in all 10 years of the program.

The field hockey team, coached by Char Morett, was honored with an NCAA Public Recognition Award for the eighth consecutive year and ninth time in the 10 years of the program. The women's golf squad, led by Denise St. Pierre , and the women's cross country team, coached by John Gondak , each earned their sixth NCAA Public Recognition Award.

Penn State has had at least four teams earn NCAA Public Recognition Awards in each of the 10 years of the program. The aggregate 2013-14 Academic Progress Rate data for all NCAA Division I institutions will be announced later this month.

The NCAA's APR is designed to track the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship at a particular institution. It accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation to provide a measure of each team's academic performance.

Top NCAA Public Recognition Award Teams Among College Football Playoff automatic qualifying conference institutions and Notre Dame

Stanford - 19

Notre Dame - 17

Duke, Northwestern - 15

Minnesota - 14v/br> Boston College - 12

Michigan - 10

Vanderbilt - 8

Penn State, Arizona State, Illinois, Texas - 7



Penn State student-athletes, who have captured a conference-best 18 Big Ten Championships and five NCAA titles since September 2012, have been among the nation's most successful in earning their degrees. A sampling of recent academic accomplishments includes:

- Last October, the NCAA's annual study of institutions across the nation revealed Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 89 percent compared to the 82 percent average for all Division I institutions. The 89 percent figure was second-highest, to Northwestern, among Big Ten Conference institutions.

- 101 student-athletes graduated earlier this month, the second-highest total in school history, and 128 have graduated so far during this academic year;

- Penn State's 70 winter Academic All-Big Ten selections brought Penn State's 2014-15 total thus far to 142 academic all-conference honorees (from 15 sports). Penn State had 285 academic all-conference honorees, in 2013-14 its second-highest total all-time;

- Penn State student-athletes shattered school records during the 2014 fall semester, including a record 500 earning a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Among the 500 Nittany Lion student-athletes earning at least a 3.0 GPA, a school record 241 garnered Dean's List honors during the 2014 fall semester by posting a GPA of 3.50 or higher. The combined average GPA was 3.08 among Penn State's 31 varsity sports during the fall semester;

- NCAA Wrestling champion Matt Brown earned a prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship this month, Penn State's 46th such recipient;

- Penn State's 186 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time ranks No. 3 among Division I institutions.