July 10, 2007

Former Wayne State University women's hockey player Peyton Patterson (Brampton, Ont.) has been selected to receive an NCAA Division I Degree Completion Award.

Applicants for this award must be student-athletes who have completed eligibility at an NCAA Division I member institution, are entering at least their sixth year of post-secondary education, are within 30 semester hours (45 quarter hours) of completion of their first undergraduate degree, and have received (and exhausted) athletics-related financial aid.

This NCAA program gives awards to between 40 and 45 percent of the applicants. Of the nearly 2,100 student-athletes who have received the award since its 1989 inception, 95 percent have obtained their undergraduate degree.

Student-athletes receiving this award are granted an amount equivalent to tuition and fees, and they also receive a book allowance based on the number of hours in which they are enrolled in order to help them achieve their ultimate goal of graduation.

Patterson, a kinesiology major, completed her four-year WSU ice hockey career in 2006 and was a three-time selection to the College Hockey America All-Academic Team. She also garnered All-CHA Second Team honors following her senior season.