SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Spring Arbor University was recognized as a NAIA Champions of Character® Five-Star Award winner and earned Gold Level status with a perfect score as the national office announced the 2025-26 award winners.
 
Spring Arbor, which received its 16th straight Five-Star Award, recorded 100 points on the NAIA CoC® scorecard, which measures institutions on their demonstrated commitment to the Champions of Character® program. Points are awarded in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion.
 
Spring Arbor was one of 120 universities to earn a perfect score for the 2025-26 program.
 
Altogether, there were 211 Champions of Character® Five-Star Award winners with 135 collecting Gold status, 58 earning Silver and 18 with Bronze.
 
In addition, the Crossroads League was one of 19 NAIA conferences to earn the Champions of Character® Five-Star Conference Award. To receive the award a conference must have established a Champions of Character Conference Committee, have a conduct in competition oversight committee composed of a minimum of three members, and have at least 60 percent of its member institutions receive the NAIA Champions of Character® Five-Star Award.