For the second straight year, three institutions will share the College Football Association's Academic Achievement Award.

Based on graduation rates obtained in a survey of CFA members, Boston College, Duke University and Vanderbilt University will share the 1996 award. The three schools each reported graduation rates of 87.5 percent for classes that enrolled in 1990.

CFA officials said the survey indicates that the graduation rates of football players at member institutions remain stable. The overall graduation rate for the 60 institutions responding to the survey was 54 percent -- a decrease from last year's rate of 58.6 percent. This year's graduation rate is the fifth highest that has been reported in the annual survey.

According to CFA surveys, the five classes of graduates who were recruited under current NCAA initial-eligibility requirements have posted an overall graduation rate of 57.3 percent. The average rate during the five years before the implementation of current requirements was 50 percent.

Fifteen other CFA members will be accorded honorable mention for graduation rates of 70 percent or above in this year's survey.

Those institutions are Baylor University; East Carolina University; Florida State University; the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of Miami (Florida); Mississippi State University; the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; North Carolina State University; the University of Notre Dame; Rice University; Southern Methodist University; the University of Southern Mississippi; Tulane University; the University of Virginia; and Wake Forest University.

The CFA Academic Achievement Award was established in 1981 and is presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Memphis. This year's award and plaques for honorable mention will be presented May 31.