Not only did USC's student-athletes accomplish plenty athletically during the just-completed Spring 2016 semester, they also continued to star academically.
USC's 539 student-athletes posted an average semester grade point average of 2.95 in Spring 2016. That was a slight rise above the Fall 2015 mark of 2.94 and just under the previous Spring 2015 semester's 3.00, which was the highest since calculations were first kept in 2000.
More than half of USC's student-athletes (292) notched a 3.0 or higher GPA this Spring, including 18 with a perfect 4.0. And 118 of them made USC's Dean's List, including a best of 15 by the women's swimming and diving team.
Twelve of USC's 21 teams had GPAs above 3.0 this Spring, topped by the women's golf squad's 3.36. The men's team with the highest GPA was swimming and diving with 3.13, its second best figure on record.
Men's basketball recorded its best GPA since records were kept (2.81, nearly a tenth of a point above its previous best that came in the prior Spring). Men's track and field posted its highest GPA for the second consecutive semester (3.09). Football's 2.58 GPA tied for its third-highest semester GPA.
The women's water polo team, which won the NCAA championship earlier this month, proved that athletic and academic successes are not mutually exclusive. The poloists notched their third highest GPA ever (3.13).
Six Trojan teams did not have any student-athlete with a sub-2.0 GPA in Spring 2016: golf, tennis and track and field on the men's side and golf, soccer and swimming and diving on the women's.
The men's basketball (+.37) and women's golf (+.18) teams had the most improved GPAs from Fall 2015 to Spring 2016.
"Once again, we are extremely pleased with the academic performance of our student-athletes," said Dr. Magdi El-Shahawy, USC senior associate athletic director in charge of Student-Athlete Academic Services. "The bar is set high here and we continue to set it higher. This validates our culture and our message: you can succeed both in the classroom and on the playing field at USC. Doing so at such an academically-demanding university as USC makes it an even more impressive achievement by our student-athletes.
"They, along with our coaches who support their academic pursuits and our staff in Student-Athlete Academic Services, are to be congratulated."
