SMU won the overall Academic Achievement Award for a 100 percent graduation rate for the class entering during the 2000-01 academic year. Clemson was one of 28 other institutions to receive honorable mention honors for at least a 70 percent graduation rate for the 2000-01 entering freshman class.

Nine ACC schools were among the 29 lauded by the AFCA on Tuesday, five more than any other conference. The Big East and Big 12 were second with four schools apiece.

This is the third time Clemson has been recognized with at least honorable mention honors by the AFCA for its graduation rate. All three years have taken place since Tommy Bowden became the head coach in 1999.

This past December, Clemson ranked second in the nation among Top 25 schools in the USA Today final regular season poll according to the NCAA's graduation success rate. Clemson had a 94 percent graduation rate for the four-year period taken into account in that study, second only to Notre Dame among top 25 schools.

American Football Coaches Association Honors Nine ACC Schools for Graduation Rates

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Nine Atlantic Coast Conference schools were recognized for graduating at least 70 percent of their football student-athletes according to the American Football Coaches Association annual Academic Achievement Awards data, released today.

SMU won top honors with a 100 percent graduation rate while Boston College and Duke were among six Division I-A institutions with a graduation rate of 90 percent or better. The ACC led all conferences with nine schools on the honors list, followed by the Big East and Big 12 with four. The Big 10 and Conference USA were each represented by three schools while Mid-American, Mountain West, Pacific-10, Southeastern, Sun Belt conferences each had one school.

In addition to Boston College and Duke, three other institutions achieved a rate of 90 percent or better: Northwestern, Notre Dame and Southern Mississippi. Those institutions graduating 70 percent or more of their football student-athletes are Auburn, Baylor, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Florida State, Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Rice, Rutgers, Syracuse, Texas Tech, Troy, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

The overall graduation rate of the 104 schools that responded to the survey was 58 percent, equaling last year's mark. Fifty of the members responding were above the average and 54 were below the average. The median graduation rate was 57 percent, compared to 57 percent last year and 60 percent two years ago.

The study involves the freshmen class from the academic year of 2000-2001, including those who entered at that time but who did not receive financial aid until after their initial year, or who transferred from another institution and subsequently received a grant-in-aid.

Academic Achievement Award Winners through the Years

(1981-97 presented by the College Football Association; 1998-06 presented by the American Football Coaches Association)

1981: Duke

1982: Notre Dame

1983: Notre Dame

1984: Duke, Notre Dame

1985: Virginia

1986: Virginia

1987: Duke

1988: Notre Dame

1989: Kentucky

1990: Duke

1991: Notre Dame

1992: Boston College, TCU

1993: Duke

1994: Duke

1995: Boston College, Duke, Wake Forest

1996: Boston College, Duke, Vanderbilt

1997: Duke

1998: Northwestern

1999: Duke

2000: Syracuse

2001: Notre Dame & Vanderbilt

2002: Northwestern

2003: Duke

2004: Boston College & Northwestern

2005: Duke & Northwestern

2006: SMU