Wednesday, May 7, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS – Two Pioneer Football League teams – Davidson and Dayton – were among those that received public recognition awards for top academic performance from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Wednesday.

The awards are given to teams scoring in the top 10 percent of the multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR), which is part of the NCAA's academic reform program.

Davidson and Dayton have received Public Recognition Awards each of the nine seasons they have been awarded. According to NCAA Research they are the only non-Ivy League Football Championship Subdivision teams to receive nine APR awards in a row.

Only 2 non-Ivy FCS FB teams w/ 9 #NCAA APR awards in a row (both from @PFLNews): @DCFootball_Cats + @DaytonFootball

— NCAA Research (@NCAAResearch) May 7, 2014

The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason, and they also can face penalties for continued low academic performance.

The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport. The APR awards two points each term to student-athletes who meet academic eligibility standards and who remain with the institution. A team's APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time divided by the total points possible, multiplied by 1,000. It includes four years (this year's numbers included the school years of 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13). High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards posted APR scores ranging from 980 to a perfect 1,000.

This year 1,049 teams (631 women's teams, 418 men's or mixed teams) were publicly recognized for high academic achievement, up from 976 a year ago. In all, 275 Division I institutions placed at least one team on the list.

Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams will be announced on May 14.