43 College of Education students earn University-wide academic awards

College of Education sign with flowering tree and blue sky — Credit: Annemarie Mountz. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Forty-three students in the College of Education on the University Park campus are among the recipients of Penn State's most prestigious University-wide undergraduate academic awards.

In the college, 23 students earned the President Walker Award; four earned the President Sparks Award; and 16 earned the Evan Pugh Scholar Award. Awards are determined at the beginning of the calendar year for the prior calendar year.

The President Walker Award is presented annually to undergraduate degree candidates and degree-seeking provisional students who have earned a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average based on at least 12 graded Penn State credits completed during their first semester of admission. Candidates are eligible for this award if they have fewer than 36 Penn State credits earned.

The President Sparks Award is presented annually to those undergraduate degree candidates who have earned a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average based on at least 36 graded Penn State credits completed by the end of the fall semester of the academic year in which the award is given. Candidates are eligible for this award if they have fewer than 60 total credits earned.

The Evan Pugh scholars are those juniors and seniors who are in the upper 0.5% of their respective classes and have completed at least 48 graded Penn State credits at the end of the fall semester of the academic year in which the award is given. Candidates are eligible if they have been full-time Penn State undergraduate students for at least four semesters prior to selection. The juniors this year have cumulative grade-point averages of 3.99. The seniors this year have cumulative grade-point averages of 4.0.

College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) advanced placement credits, College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) taken prior to high school, International Baccalaureate credits, and credits taken prior to high school graduation are not counted in the total credits earned for purposes of these awards. Credits earned using alternative grades do count in the total credits earned.

Those in the College of Education earning these awards for 2022 are: