VILLANOVA, Pa.—Another record-breaking semester for Wildcats student-athletes is in the books! The numbers are in from the Spring 2026 semester and the entire past academic year. Villanova Athletics continues to raise its own benchmarks for academic achievement while maintaining the trend of success in the classroom occurring across the board for all 24 varsity teams. The department grade-point average for 565 student-athletes in Spring 2026 rose to a new high of 3.549, extending streaks of semesters with a GPA above a 3.3 to 17 straight and grading periods with a GPA higher than 3.0 to 23 consecutive academic years.
This level of achievement is the result of more than just hard work. It is a philosophy that defines the dedication of Villanova student-athletes in all their endeavors and to the pursuit of excellence in the classroom. Every varsity team had a GPA above a 3.0 for the 2025-26 academic year, including 23 teams for the Spring semester.
Another indicator of department success is more than 42 percent of student-athletes in the Class of 2026 graduated with Honors for having a career GPA of 3.5 or higher. Villanova Athletics also announced 133 junior and senior student-athletes who formed the 2025-2026 induction class to Chi Alpha Sigma, the national nonprofit academic honor society for collegiate student-athletes.
The data from Spring 2026 is particularly impressive. More than 90 percent of student-athletes carried a GPA of 3.0 or higher, including 83 percent who were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester GPA above a 3.2 and 67 percent of student-athletes who achieved Dean's List recognition with a mark of 3.5 or higher. On a more individual level, there 75 student-athletes representing 19 teams who had a perfect 4.0 GPA in the Spring.
The race for the highest team GPA in Spring 2026 was remarkable, with water polo and women's tennis both in contention and each team earning department awards for the academic year. The water polo team posted a team GPA of 3.831 in the Spring and won the Nnenna Lynch Award for having the highest team GPA in 2025-26. The women's tennis team was just as impressive with a 3.830 team GPA and was the winner of the Dr. Dan Regan Award for the most improved academic year GPA. In all, there were 10 teams with a Spring 2026 GPA of 3.6 or higher: water polo and women's tennis were joined by golf, field hockey, women's soccer, men's tennis, volleyball, rowing, women's soccer and women's swimming & diving.
A significant area in which Villanova stands out on a national level is for its combination of elite performance in the classroom as well as in the fields and arenas of athletic competition. The water polo team combined having the highest GPA with a 20-win season and an appearance in the MAAC Championship, while the women's swimming & diving team won its 13th consecutive BIG EAST title.
The football team advanced to the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs in the Fall, while the men's and women's basketball teams each reached the NCAA Tournament during the Spring semester. Villanova was one of just five schools nationally along with Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas Tech to earn a berth in the FBS or FCS playoffs and in the Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournaments.
There has been other recent academic data released which shined a spotlight on the Wildcats academic achievement. Last month Villanova Athletics had 11 of its varsity programs earn public recognition for having a multiyear NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) score which ranks in the top 10 percent of their sport nationwide. Villanova has had 10 or more teams earn a perfect APR score of 1000 in each of the last nine years.
