SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Seventeen Southern Conference teams in nine sports posted perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores as released by the National Collegiate Athletics Association on Wednesday.
A total of 72 SoCon teams beat the national average for NCAA Division I, while 17 different squads posted a perfect score of 1,000. Eight of the 10 SoCon schools had at least one team post a perfect score, with Wofford leading the way with four (men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis and women’s basketball).
Southern Conference football teams also scored very well, as seven of the eight programs topped the national average of 954. The league’s APR of 967 in football is a 13-point improvement over the national benchmark.
Men’s golf posted the highest APR in the conference with a score of 993, 10 points above the national average. Four of the league’s eight programs posted perfect scores (Mercer, UNCG, Western Carolina and Wofford).
Volleyball earned the SoCon’s highest score on the women’s side, posting a score of 992, eight points higher than the national average. Four of the league’s nine programs earned perfect scores (ETSU, Mercer, UNCG and Samford).
The NCAA’s APR scores released Wednesday are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years. The APR report is part of the NCAA’s overall Division I academic reform effort.
Last week, 25 SoCon teams were honored with the Public Recognition Award, given to programs ranking in the top 10 percent of APR scores within their respective sports.
ABOUT THE APR
• The Academic Progress Rate is a real-time measure of eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team, which has been shown to predict later graduation success.
• The most recent APR scores are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years.
• Under the penalty structure, the Division I Board of Directors has set a cut score of 930 (out of 1,000) as a threshold for teams to meet or face possible sanctions. An APR of 930 projects a 50-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR).
• The goal of academic reform is improvement, not punishment. Not only does academic reform ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams and institutions, but also it provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school.
• This year marks the 10th year of APR data for most teams. The APR is a multi-year rate based on the most recent four years of data.
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