HILTON HEAD, SC – Clayton State University was announced as the winner of the 2020-21 Peach Belt Conference Presidents' Academic Award on Thursday as the league revealed its season-ending major awards. Clayton State wins the honor for the second straight time, becoming the fourth institution to win back-to-back awards in the 15-year history of the honor.
The award recognizes excellence in academics concerning all of an institution's student-athletes.
At the end of the academic school year the Peach Belt Conference asked each of the league's 12 members to submit an average GPA for the undergraduate student body and a GPA for all student-athletes. These two numbers were used to determine each institutions' GPA ratio that identifies which school's athletes are performing most ahead of the curve in comparison to the student body. The schools are not measured against one another, just their athletes to their students.
Clayton State had their highest student-athlete GPA ever in 2018-19 at 2.9903 and a ratio of 1.1169 to win the Presidents' Academic Award. Overall, 11 of the 12 PBC members had student-athlete GPAs that were, on average, higher than the student body.
The Presidents' Academic Award is part of a larger conference program to highlight the accomplishments of PBC student-athletes in the classroom as well as on the field.
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Previous Winners
2019-20 - Cup not awarded
2018-19 - Clayton State University
2017-18 - (tie) Georgia Southwestern State University & UNC Pembroke
2016-17 - University of North Georgia
2015-16 - Columbus State University
2014-15 - Columbus State University
2013-14 - Armstrong State University
2012-13 - Armstrong State University
2011-12 - Augusta University
2010-11 - UNC Pembroke
2009-10 - UNC Pembroke
2008-09 - University of South Carolina Aiken
2007-08 - Georgia Southwestern State University
2006-07 - Armstrong State University
2005-06 - Armstrong State University