The University of Colorado’s football program just put another line in its record book—this time in the classroom. Athletic-department figures released on May 30 show the Buffs earned a 2.957 team GPA for the 2025 spring term, the best spring-semester mark in program history. It edges past every spring average since the school began tracking the metric and keeps the squad’s rolling cumulative figure above 3.0 after posting a 3.011 last fall.
Head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has made academics a pillar of his rebuild since arriving in Boulder. The program’s official account celebrated the milestone with Sanders’ mantra—“The standard is the standard”—emphasizing the same “smart, tough, fast, disciplined, with character” qualities he demands on the field.
A Record Semester Across CU Athletics
The good news wasn’t limited to football. University officials reported that all 342 Colorado student-athletes combined for a 3.264 GPA, the highest single-semester average the school has ever recorded and enough to nudge CU’s all-time cumulative GPA to 3.294. Highlights included:
- Women’s ski team: 3.825—the first 3.8+ term by any CU squad.
- Women’s tennis: 3.761.
- Women’s lacrosse: 3.733.
Nine of CU’s 15 programs notched either their best fall or spring GPA, and four—including football—set records in both semesters. Every women’s team finished at 3.3 or better, while nearly 70 percent of all athletes earned at least a 3.0; 39 turned in perfect 4.0s.
Athletic director Rick George credited the Herbst Academic Center staff and coaching leadership for creating “a culture where academic success is expected.” Senior associate AD Kris Livingston added that frequent progress checks and clear accountability are keeping athletes “dialed-in” academically.
Why It Matters
For Sanders, these numbers are more than bragging rights. He has repeatedly said that winning “at everything”—from finances to life skills—must accompany wins on Saturdays. The spring GPA milestone gives the Buffs a tangible off-field victory as they head into Sanders’ pivotal third season and their second year back in the Big 12 Conference. If the trajectory continues, Colorado could soon be known as much for its honor-roll presence as for its high-octane offense.
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