MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Appalachian State University athletics collected one of the Sun Belt Conference's most prestigious honors on Monday evening when it was named the winner of the Sun Belt's 2015 Institutional Graduation Rate Award.

Appalachian State earned the 2015 Institutional Graduation Rate Award on the strength of its student-athletes owning the highest Federal Graduation Rate among all current Sun Belt members for the 2013-14 academic year. The graduation rates are calculated and published yearly by the NCAA in its Division I Graduation Rate Annual Report.

Appalachian State's student-athletes compiled a 73-percent Federal Graduation Rate in 2013-14, which was five percent better than the next-highest Sun Belt institution.

“We're proud and honored to receive this award,” Appalachian State director of athletics Doug Gillin said. “Our No. 1 goal as a department is for student-athletes to earn a degree from Appalachian State. This award is a testimony to the commitment of our coaches, academic services personnel, faculty, staff and student-athletes to achieve that goal.”