MIAMI (June 1, 2017) – The FIU Athletic Department continues to maintain a level of academic excellence, posting the highest spring grade point average on record (3.22) this past semester. It marks the seventh-straight semester in which FIU has posted a department GPA of 3.0-or-better.
 
"The constant academic achievement by our student-athletes is remarkable," FIU Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia said. "The bar continues to be raised with the efforts of our student-athletes in the classroom. I want to recognize the hard work of our Student-Athlete Academic Center (SAAC). It's also important to recognize our coaches' emphasis on not only being champions on the field but in the classroom."
 
Fifteen of the department's 18 teams reported a 3.0-or-higher, while 12 showed an increase from the spring term of last year. During the spring term, FIU had a total of 254 student-athletes earn a GPA of 3.0-or-better, while 133 were named to the Dean's List. There were 18 student-athletes who earned a 4.0 GPA. FIU is coming off a record-setting fall semester, in which the Panthers registered their highest fall GPA on record (3.15).
 
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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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.