MIAMI (Jan. 13, 2017) – Academic success in the FIU Athletic Department continues to surge as student-athletes posted the highest fall grade point average on record (3.15), while 15 of the 18 Panther teams reported GPAs of 3.0 or higher this past semester.  
 
"The work in the classroom by our student-athletes is outstanding," FIU Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia said. "Academics is extremely important and our student-athletes understand that. To continually see improvements each semester is a testament to the efforts of our student-athletes, the hard work of our Student-Athlete Academic Center and the commitment by our coaches to encourage success in the classroom."
 
The overall 3.15 GPA for the fall marked the sixth-straight semester with a department-wide grade point average of 3.0 or higher and was an improvement over FIU's 3.05 GPA from Fall 2015. Women's Tennis (3.6) and men's soccer (3.28) recorded the highest GPAs for their groups in the Athletic Department, while football finished the semester with the highest fall GPA for the program in five years.   
 
During the fall term, FIU had a total of 270 student-athletes earn a GPA of 3.0-or-better, while 122 were named to the Dean's List. There were 25 student-athletes who earned a 4.0 GPA.
 
Last year, FIU recorded the highest combined GPA (3.1) during the 2015-16 academic calendar as a total of 515 student-athletes earn a GPA of 3.0-or-better, while 270 were named to the Dean's List. There were 154 student-athletes who earned a GPA of 3.75-or-better and 60 earned a 4.0.
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.