Not only did Coastal Carolina University athletes have a successful athletic season in its first year in the Sun Belt Conference, but the Chanticleers also performed well in the classroom for the 2016-2017 academic year.

For the fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters, a total of 74 student-athletes graduated (31 in the fall and 43 in the spring), including 27 who graduated with honors (three summa cum laude, 13 magna cum laude and 11 cum laude). Also, five Chanticleers received their master's degrees: Leroy Cummings (football, M. Ed.), Calvin Hollenhorst (football, MBA), Bruce Mapp (football, MBA), Voghens Larrieux (football, MBA) and Rachel Gregory (women's basketball, MBA).

For the year, Coastal Carolina student-athletes posted a 3.154 GPA while owning a cumulative GPA of 3.203. The women's tennis and women's golf teams were the department's top performers, posting GPAs of 3.834 and 3.82, respectively, for the year. All 11 women's programs had a GPA of more than 3.0 for the year, while six of the eight men's programs had at least a 3.0 GPA for the year with the lowest by any sport program being 2.836.

A total 257 student-athletes had at least a 3.0 GPA in the fall of 2016, including 51 who had a perfect 4.0 to earn President's List honors while 116 earned Dean's List. In the spring 2017 semester, 226 student-athletes had at least a 3.0 with 42 receiving President's List honors and 101 making the Dean's List.