MADISON, Wis. – For the first time ever, Wisconsin football has been awarded the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) 2024 Academic Achievement Award, as announced by the Memphis Touchdown Club on Thursday. Wisconsin earned the award after posting a 91% graduation success rate in 2024, matching the program's highest mark ever.

Wisconsin joins Air Force, Clemson, Liberty, Notre Dame, Virginia and Wake Forest in receiving the 2024 Academic Achievement Award. Head coaches of the winning schools will be honored during the 2025 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday, Jan. 12.

Wisconsin's roster featured 13 players who had earned their degrees prior to the beginning of the 2024 season. 15 Badgers are on track to graduate this month with degrees from the University of Wisconsin.

This year's award marks the 13th time the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) one-year formula has been used to select the winner.

The GSR is based on a six-year graduation window for student-athletes and holds institutions accountable for transfer students, unlike the federal graduation rate. The GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and non-scholarship students at schools that do not offer athletics aid. Under GSR calculation, institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are passed to the receiving institution's GSR cohort.

The Academic Achievement Award was established by the College Football Association in 1981. The award recognized the CFA-member Football Bowl Subdivision institution with the highest graduation rate among members of its football team. When the CFA disbanded in 1997, the AFCA stepped in to present the award.