INDIANAPOLIS – Eight Southern Conference sports met or exceeded the national average and 25 league teams achieved perfect scores in the most recent Academic Progress Rate data released by the NCAA on Tuesday.
 
The most recent APRs are multiyear rates based on scores from the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years.
 
Nine of the 10 SoCon members had at least one sport that posted a perfect score of 1,000, with Furman leading the way with five and Mercer following with four. UNC Greensboro, Samford and Chattanooga had three each, while The Citadel, ETSU and Western Carolina had two each and Wofford had one.
 
Men’s cross country and women’s golf produced four perfect scores apiece, while men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s cross country each had three.
 
Football, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s tennis, men’s track and field, softball, women’s cross country and volleyball all collectively met or surpassed the national average.
 
The SoCon’s eight golf programs were the highest-scoring men’s teams with an average of 990, while cross country and volleyball led the way for the league’s women’s programs with averages of 991.
 
Forty SoCon men’s teams and 44 league women’s teams finished at or above the national averages in their respective sports over the four-year period. Last week, 26 Southern Conference squads in 13 different sports and representing nine member institutions were recognized with Public Recognition Awards for posting multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all Division I squads in each respective sport.
 
The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in every sport. All teams must meet an academic threshold of 930 to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.
 
For the first time, a portion of NCAA revenue is being distributed this year to members based on the academic achievement of student-athletes, including APR scores.
 
Each school can earn one academic achievement unit per year if its student-athletes meet at least one of the following requirements:
 
- Earn an overall single-year all-sport Academic Progress Rate of 985 or higher.
- Earn an overall all-sport Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent or higher.
- Earn a federal graduation rate that is at least 13 percentage points higher than the federal graduation rate of the student body at that school.
 
As requested by the Division I Board of Directors, the NCAA will not publicize which schools received the unit. Dollar figures were impacted by the cancellation of the 2020 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.