July 3, 2001

Charlottesville, Va.-- - The University of Virginia has been recognized by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) for its graduation rate involving football players.

Virginia is one of 28 institutions to receive honorable mention status for graduating 70 percent or more of their football players. The University of Notre Dame and Vanderbilt University received the 2001 American Football Coaches Association's Academic Achievement Award for having the highest graduation rate in the survey.

The survey involved those individuals from the freshman class of the 1995-96 academic year, including those who entered at that time but did not receive financial aid until after their initial year or players that transferred from another institution and subsequently received a grant-in-aid.

Two other Atlantic Coast Conference institutions, Duke and Wake Forest, received honorable mention recognition. Other schools receiving honorable mention recognition were Akron, Ball State, Baylor, Buffalo, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, LSU, Marshall, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Rice, South Carolina, SMU, Syracuse, Texas Tech, Tulane, Tulsa, Washington State, Western Michigan, and Wyoming.

Virginia won the Academic Achievement Award in 1985 and 1986, and has been recognized for its graduation rate among football players for each of the last 18 years. This year marks the fourth time the Academic Achievement Award is being presented by the AFCA. The award was previously presented by the College Football Association.