Penn State football receives recognition for graduation rate

The Penn St. Nittany Lions football program was honored for its high graduation rate Monday, as the American Football Coaches Association released their annual Academic Achievement Award survey, Audrey Snyder of The Patriot-News is reporting.

Penn State, which ended its season with a thrilling victory over the Wisconsin Badgers and an 8-4 overall record, earned an AFCA honorable mention by having a graduation rate of 75-percent or higher for student-athletes who were freshmen in 2005-06.

This was the 22nd time in 26 years the Nittany Lions were recognized by the AFCA. Notre Dame leads Football Bowl Subdivision institutions in honorable mentions citations with 23. Penn State is tied for second with 22.

According to Snyder, senior defensive end Pete Massaro and junior guard John Urschel were selected as first-team CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.

Penn State's historic academic success in the classroom was a staple of the former leadership of head coach Joe Paterno.