INDIANAPOLIS – Eleven Southern Conference sports met or exceeded the national average and 32 league teams achieved perfect scores in the most recent Academic Progress Rate data released by the NCAA on Tuesday.
 
“These impressive scores reflect the commitment of our institutions and our conference to academic excellence,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said.
 
The most recent APRs are multiyear rates based on scores from the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 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 six and UNC Greensboro following with five. Chattanooga and Mercer had four each, while Samford, Western Carolina and Wofford had three each. The Citadel and ETSU had two each.
 
Women’s golf produced six perfect scores, while men’s golf and men’s cross country each had five.
 
Football, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s tennis, men’s track and field, softball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s tennis, and volleyball all collectively met or surpassed the national averages for those sports.
 
The SoCon’s golf programs produced the highest league averages for both the men’s and women’s programs, with the league’s eight men’s teams averaging a score of 995 and the nine women’s teams averaging a score of 994.
 
Fifty-three SoCon men’s teams and 47 league women’s teams finished at or above the national averages in their respective sports over the four-year period.
 
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.
 
Since 2020, a portion of NCAA revenue has been distributed 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.