FLORENCE, ALA. – In a year full of firsts and record-breaking performances, the University of North Alabama Athletic Department can add another to the list of accomplishments, but this time from the classroom. As the Spring 2023 academic semester comes to a close, it marked the highest departmental GPA on record with 3.32. This marked the seventh consecutive semester North Alabama student-athletes have posted a GPA of 3.2 or better and fifteenth consecutive semester of 3.0 or higher.
 
To add to the accolade, 70 student-athletes earned a 4.00 GPA (22.5% of total student-athletes), 236 student-athletes finished with a 3.00 GPA or higher (75.9% of total student-athletes), and four sports posted their highest team GPA on record (Beach Volleyball, Men's Golf, Softball, and Volleyball).
 
"Our student-athletes continue to reach new highs in the classroom as we accelerate the department forward in Division I athletics," said UNA director of athletics Dr. Josh Looney. "Pushing above a 3.3 department-wide GPA represents not only a significant department milestone but also one of the largest single-year GPA increases in our history. This is incredible considering the athletic department established its most recent record-high GPA last academic year!
 
"Academic excellence will always be at the forefront of our competitive goals and this record-setting academic performance is a testament to how UNA athletes navigate their academic and athletic responsibilities. We're fortunate to have strong faculty, coaches, and academic leaders that support UNA student-athletes achieving their goals on and off the field."
 
Beach Volleyball finished with the highest team GPA in the department with a 3.84 mark for the Spring 2023 semester, followed by Men's Golf finishing second with a 3.74 Spring 2023 GPA, in addition to leading all men's programs and turning in the department's high single-sport increase with a jump of .52 from the Fall 2022 semester.
 
The performance builds on an already solid Fall 2022 semester that saw the number of student-athletes who earned 4.00 GPAs increase to 132 and six total sports set semester records for GPAs for both semesters (Beach Volleyball, Men's Golf, Softball [twice], Volleyball, and Women's Golf). It also saw the university graduate 45 student-athletes with 30 ASUN Honors this past semester, adding to the 13 student-athlete graduates with five ASUN Honors from the Fall.