Penn State trustee Brandon Short defends football's academic record as Nittany Lions appeal recent score

Tuesday afternoon, Penn State coach James Franklin met with reporters for his first weekly press conference of the 2023 season. Among the topics covered, the Nittany Lion leader discussed the strength of quarterback Drew Allar’s offseason, the environment expected at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night, and the depth that has emerged at defensive tackle this month.

Following a SpotlightPA story released last week, Franklin was also asked to vouch for Penn State football’s academic progress rate.

In the report, Penn State football is cited as having a team academic rating that “plummeted to its lowest point in more than a decade.” The recent score also put the Nittany Lions last among all Big Ten programs for the metric. Following a perfect score of 1,000 for the 2018-19 school year, Penn State notched a score of 914 for 2021-22. Combined, the numbers represented “the second-lowest score averaged across the past four years.”

James Franklin details Penn State academic record

Responding to the report at the press conference, Franklin stressed his continued commitment to academic success. He called it a point of “tremendous pride” for Penn State athletics and specifically the football program.

“We’re going to spend a lot of energy and resources on getting it back where we want it to be. Pat is aligned on that. I’m aligned on that. So is our staff,” Franklin said. “We take a lot of pride in it, and we’ll get it right.

“If you look at our graduation rates, our graduation rates have really been good. The actual graduation rates, not the predictor of graduation.”

Brandon Short, a former Nittany Lion All-American linebacker and current alumni-elected member of Penn State’s Board of Trustees, raised concerns with the report and the narrative it presented. 

Short supplied Blue White Illustrated with a lengthy statement detailing his challenges to the issue. Reflecting on his experience as a Penn State student-athlete, Short provided a deeper explanation of the Nittany Lions’ academic standing and what it means for the program moving forward.

Brandon Short statement

“I’m a proud product of Joe Paterno’s grand experiment. I truly value my Penn State education and believe that our football program is continuing to prioritize academic performance. The NCAA looks at two measures of academic accountability 1) Graduation Rates and 2) Academic Progress.

“PSU football’s current graduation rate is 89 percent, which is nine points higher than the Division I football average and is a two-point increase from 2021. The football program’s 89 percent graduation rate is in line with our historic graduation rate under the late, great Joe Paterno. While academic progress is important, the most important factor in changing our student athletes’ lives is graduating from Penn State.

“The news story focused on academic progress to create a negative narrative for the story. The NCAA is currently reviewing whether to continue utilizing the academic progress metric in the future as many factors can bring down a program’s score that do not relate to academic performance. For example, Penn State lost 13 points on this year’s academic progress due to:

– Players who already earned their undergraduate degrees were using an additional year of eligibility available to them due to COVID and all went on to pursue NFL careers.

– Players who transferred out of the program following the season and are not known to continue their education elsewhere.

– A player who had a medical condition and did not meet eligibility requirements after learning of this condition.

“If these points had been included, Penn State’s score would have been in line with our historical average. The NCAA allows programs to appeal lost points given that many factors do not reflect academic performance. And Penn State is currently appealing these lost points through the NCAA.

“James Franklin and Pat Kraft are continuing to prioritize academics and they are being held accountable. 

“You may not be aware, but there is a small group of people at Penn State actively working to undermine our football program. The information in this news story has been available to the public for close to a year. However, the story was published one week before the start of a new season. It’s sad to say, but it feels like this story was promoted, then written, at this time to intentionally undermine football ahead of a season when there is so much excitement around the program.

“Academic performance is and always will be a priority at Penn State.”

Next steps for Penn State football

As indicated in the initial SpotlightPA report, Penn State’s next academic progress rate number will be released in October. According to the report, the program will need to score higher than 900. With it, it would maintain a four-year rolling average above 930 to avoid NCAA intervention.

The Nittany Lions open the season on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, playing host to West Virginia (7:30 p.m., NBC).