Notre Dame is one of seven institutions to share the American Football Coaches Association’s 2024 Academic Achievement Award. The award honors the schools with the highest graduation rate for members of the 2017 freshman football student-athlete classes.
Of the seven schools to be recognized with the honor this year, Notre Dame leads the pack with 11 such honors all-time. The Memphis Touchdown Club presents the annual award, which is sponsored by BSN Sports.The head coaches of the winning schools will be honored during the 2025 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday, January 12.
The other institutions to earn the honor this year include Air Force, Clemson, Liberty, Virginia, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.
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.
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.
Through the award’s history, Notre Dame ranks third all-time in honors won with 11 (Duke, 14; Northwestern, 12).