On April 22, the NCAA recognized 767 Division I sports teams for top academic performance as part of the NCAA’s academic reform program. The recognition awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport according to their Academic Progress Rates (APR). The APR is a measure of a team’s academic success each semester or quarter by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation. High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards posted APR scores ranging from 976 to a perfect 1,000, including three of the four 2009 Men’s Final Four teams—Michigan State University and Villanova University along with North Carolina.
“The vast majority of sports teams are performing very well academically and exceeding the 925 threshold for their APR scores,” said NCAA president Myles Brand. “Nearly 800 of these teams are worthy of special attention, and I commend them for their excellence in academics and athletics.”
The 767 teams publicly recognized this year for high achievement represent 11.9 percent of the approximately 6,484 Division I teams. The list includes 448 women’s teams and 319 men’s or mixed squads. A total of 205 institutions, out of 331 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. Last year, a total of 712 teams were recognized.
Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition awards, will be announced May 6. The announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing teams.