WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University, which topped NCAA Division II in academic success rate for the fourth consecutive year, has once again received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence. There are over 300 Division II institutions and the Falcons are one of only ten to earn the accolade every year in the program's 10-year history.

The award is presented annually to member schools who have earned an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher.

Bentley has achieved an ASR of 99% each of the last three years and has been at 98% or better for six straight years.

"I couldn't be more excited about this news or more proud of our student-athletes," said Bentley Director of Athletics Vaughn Williams. "To be selected for the NCAA Presidents' Award ten years in a row is an amazing statement about the quality and focus of our student-athletes, past and present."

The honor comes as the university moves forward with a new strategic plan that sets out the mission, vision and values for Bentley Athletics for the next five years. The plan was created with input from across the university and is focused on ensuring that Bentley student-athletes will be successful leaders in sport, in the classroom and in the world.

"The Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence recognizes Division II member schools for their commitment to a balanced college experience that supports the academic success of college athletes," said Sandra Jordan, Chancellor of the University of South Carolina Aiken and chair of the Division II Presidents Council.

The Academic Success Rate is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial collegiate enrollment and includes virtually all Division II student-athletes.

Unlike the federal rate, the Division II ASR includes nearly 34,000 non-scholarship student-athletes and accounts for those who transfer to a Division II school after initial enrollment elsewhere, while removing student-athletes who leave school while academically eligible. The national ASR for the four cohorts of student-athletes who entered college from 2010 to 2013 is 74%.

Division II student-athletes continue to graduate at a higher rate than the general student body. Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, the 2013 entering class of student-athletes graduated at a rate of 62%, compared with 53% for the general student body. Bentley's 92 percent federal graduation rate in this year's calculations matched the highest in the university's history.

Seven of the 42 institutions who received the Presidents' Award were from the Northeast-10, most of any conference in the nation.

The others who have received the honor all ten years are Assumption, Eckerd, Hillsdale, Jefferson, Rollins, Seattle Pacific, St. Michael's and Stonehill.