INDIANAPOLIS – East Texas A&M University has received the NCAA Accelerating Academic Success Program (AASP) initiative grant to support student-athlete academic success. 
 
The Lions have been awarded $100,000 from the NCAA through the AASP grant, which helps schools with infrastructure, staffing, programming, developmental training and other initiatives designed to enhance student-athlete academic outcomes. 
 
"I'm really proud of the work that went into securing the NCAA AASP Grant for our student-athletes," said Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Success Antonia Anderson. "This funding gives us an opportunity to make meaningful improvements to the Thrower Center and create an even better environment for our student-athletes to succeed academically. I'm excited to see the impact this will have on our program and our student-athletes."
 
The funds at East Texas A&M will be used to completely overhaul the Thrower Center for Student-Athlete Success, including a new layout and upgraded technology to fuel champions in the classroom. East Texas A&M is one of 17 schools in NCAA Division I to earn the grant this year. The full announcement from the NCAA can be found HERE.
 
This is the first time that the Lions have received the AASP grant. Sixty-seven percent of student-athletes hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or better, with eight programs having recorded a semester GPA of 3.30 or higher during the spring 2026 semester.
 
The Lions have continuously improved their Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR) since moving up to NCAA Division I with 96 student-athletes graduating during the 2025-26 academic year. 
 
Established in 2012, the program awards over $1 million annually to Division I colleges and universities that meet grant qualifications for the support of their academic initiatives to help increase academic outcomes for student-athletes. The AASP grants are an example of how the NCAA, and its member schools, invest in academic support and success of student-athletes.