PEORIA, IL – During a year marked by notable achievements in competition, Bradley University’s student-athletes continued to excel in the classroom in 2017-18.  The Braves once again set Athletic Department records for grade point average to earn their third straight Missouri Valley Conference All-Academic Award, while ranking among the nation’s best in several academic measurables.
 
The MVC All-Academic Award is presented annually to the institution that finishes the school year with the best grade point average among its student-athletes who participate in The Valley.  Bradley’s student-athletes completed the 2018 Spring grading period by tying the department record with a 3.42 semester grade point average and the Braves completed the 2017-18 school year with a department-record 3.43 collective cumulative GPA.   Drake (3.390) and UNI (3.345) followed closely behind in the MVC Academic Award standings.
 

School	GPA
Bradley	3.410
Drake	3.390
Northern Iowa	3.345

“This achievement by our student-athletes for three consecutive years is a reflection to their commitment to excellence in the classroom and in all facets of their Bradley University experience,” said Dr. Chris Reynolds, Bradley Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics.  “As we strive to develop the leaders of tomorrow, it has been a privilege to witness our young men and women give 110 percent in the classroom, in competition and in the community with the aim of becoming productive and well-rounded contributors in their respective fields upon graduation.”
 
In route to its third straight MVC All-Academic Award, Bradley produced a school-record 46 MVC Scholar-Athletes in its 15 sports during the 2017-18 school year, the most among The Valley’s 10 member institutions in those same sports (women’s soccer also included for the other nine MVC schools that sponsor the sport).
 
Nearly 64 percent of the student-athletes qualified for the Bradley Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the 2018 Spring semester by posting a minimum 3.30 semester GPA, while 77 percent (172-of-224) of the Braves qualified for the 2018 MVC Honor Roll by posting a minimum 3.20 GPA in at least one of the two 2017-18 semesters.
 
According to data collected annually for the NCAA’s Institutional Performance Program, the academic performance of the Braves during the 2017-18 school year is expected to place Bradley in the 99th percentile of all NCAA Division I institutions in grade point average.  Last month, the NCAA announced a school-record seven Bradley teams – men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s track - received 2018 Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards by ranking among the top 10 percent within its sport nationally for overall team academic performance during the four-year period ending in 2016-17.
 
Looking beyond their student-athlete careers, 99 percent of Bradley’s graduating student-athletes from 2015-17 have enjoyed postgraduate placement success, according to data collected by Bradley University’s Smith Career Center.
 
The academic success of Bradley’s student-athletes coincided with improved competitive performances among virtually all of the school’s 15 NCAA Division I programs during the 2017-18 season.  Notably, the Braves won three Missouri Valley Conference championships – men’s cross country, women’s cross country and men’s golf – in 2017-18 for the first time since 1998-99; men’s basketball won 20 games for the first time since 2008-09; men’s soccer finished the year as the most-improved team in the nation by W-L record; and baseball tied as the nation’s third most-improved team.