The balancing of academic achievement and athletic success is the primary concern of LIU’s department of athletics. The University’s student-athlete academic services are designed to help the department fulfill its commitment to all student-athletes in their pursuit of academic excellence.
At LIU, there is a high priority placed on academic integrity, along with an opportunity to take advantage of extraordinary academic programs. The goal of the LIU Athletic Department is to give student-athletes an avenue to seek help whether it be for tutorial assistance, scheduling of classes, personal or career development or to improve on their test-taking and time-management skills.

In her third year, Nora Mavashev is responsible for monitoring academic progress of the student-athletes, ensuring they meet and exceed the University’s academic goals in compliance with NCAA and institutional standards.

In conjunction with the director and senior associate director of athletics, it has formed close relationships with the academic advisement office and counseling center to assist the student-athlete in negotiating the demands of daily practices and games.

LIU athletes excelled in the classroom this past calendar year as nationally several teams were acknowledged by their respective coaches’ associations for academic excellence. The following LIU squads were honored: women’s basketball by the WBCA, volleyball by the AVCA, women’s track and field by the USTCA, lacrosse by the IWLCA, softball by the NFCA, tennis by the ITA and both men’s and women’s soccer teams by the NSCAA.

The Athletic Department had an overall grade point average this past year of 3.09. This past spring, eight of the 13 teams posted semester and cumulative averages above 3.00. For the year, there were 100 student-athletes (51 percent) who had a cumulative GPA above 3.00 or better for semester, while 49 percent registered a 3.00 or better in the Spring semester. There are 200 plus students from the 17 teams.

The University has twice been recognized by the NCAA and USA Today for having the highest graduation rate in the nation as compared to the remainder of the student body.