INDIANPOLIS – For the second consecutive year, the Davidson and Dayton football squads each were honored by the NCAA with Public Recognition Awards for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR), Wednesday. They were among nearly 800 Division I sports teams recognized for top academic performance as part of the NCAA’s academic reform program.
The APR provides a real-time look at
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 and provides
a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
High-performing teams receiving public recognition awards this year
posted APR scores ranging from 976 to a perfect 1,000, said NCAA
President Myles Brand. He stressed that three of the four 2009 Men’s
Final Four teams—Michigan State University and Villanova University
along with North Carolina—are receiving public recognition awards for
their high APR scores.
“The vast majority of sports teams are performing very well
academically and exceeding the 925 threshold for their APR scores,”
Brand said. “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. Another six
schools that offer athletics in more than one division, out of 50
overall that do so within the NCAA, placed Division I teams on the list
as well.
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. The most recent APRs
are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07
and 2007-08 academic years.
