VILLANOVA, Pa.—The perennial academic excellence of Villanova student-athletes has been nothing short of astounding in recent years and the Fall 2024 semester continued to raise the bar to even higher levels of achievement in the classroom. The department grade point average for Villanova Athletics was 3.491 in Fall 2024, with that figure representing 598 student-athletes from 24 varsity sport programs. It is the 14th consecutive semester with a student-athlete GPA above a 3.3 and the 43rd straight grading period spanning well over 20 years that the semester GPA has been higher than a 3.0.
The release of the latest academic data from Villanova Athletics on Thursday afternoon continued to shine a spotlight on the across-the-board excellence of Wildcats student-athletes in their academic pursuits. Each of the 24 varsity sport programs topped a 3.0 team GPA for the sixth consecutive semester, with nearly half of Villanova teams (11) sporting a 3.5 team GPA or higher. Top honors for the Fall 2024 grading period went to field hockey with a 3.739 GPA, while the top five team GPAs were all remarkably strong and included water polo (3.719), golf (3.712), women's swimming & diving (3.704) and women's soccer (3.699).
The highest levels of academic achievement on an individual level were recognized in Thursday's data release. It included 86 percent of student-athletes who had a Fall GPA of 3.0 or higher, while 77 percent of student-athletes were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a GPA above a 3.2. For the second straight semester, 59 percent of student-athletes were named to their respective schools' Dean's List for compiling a GPA of at least 3.5 for the Fall grading period.
Even more impressively, a group of 54 student-athletes representing 18 sport programs had a perfect 4.0 GPA. Eight different teams had four or more student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA in the Fall, led by rowing and women's soccer with six each.
The combination of academic achievement and athletic success has long been one of the benchmarks that puts Villanova among the most elite collegiate athletics programs in the country. The field hockey team combined its department-leading GPA with its second 10-win season in the past three years, while three other Fall sports teams (football, men's cross country, women's cross country) reached national postseason competition. Those four sports, along with volleyball who reached the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship, combined for 14 of the student-athletes who had a 4.0 semester GPA. Eight of the 11 sports with a team GPA of 3.5 or higher played at least part of their competition season in the Fall.
Villanova's semiannual reveal of its academic numbers is just the latest benchmark of the University's elite academic standing. National data on the NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) was released in November 2024 and the Wildcats were one of 23 schools in the country to post a score of 98 percent or higher. The score matched the highest among BIG EAST schools and put Villanova in a class of prestigious universities which includes six Ivy League schools along with other renowned academic institutions such as Georgetown and Northwestern.
