• NCAA Press Release
The latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) data from the NCAA has been released.
Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
The APR emerged when Division I presidents and chancellors sought a more timely assessment of academic success at colleges and universities. At the time, the best measure was the graduation rate calculated under the federally mandated methodology that was based on a six-year window and did not take transfers into account.
Nationally the four-year APR national average remained steady for the 20th anniversary of the data collection.
As a whole the OVC's APR was 980, its highest mark in the past four years and up three points from last year.
Overall the sport of men's basketball was at 976, up three points from a year ago while women's basketball was at 975, up six spots from a year ago and 23 points from two years ago.
In the sport of football the OVC was at 959, up 15 points from last year's data release, and 30 points from two years ago.
In the past 21 years of the Academic Performance Program, nearly 22,000 student-athletes have gone back to school to earn their degrees and APR points for their former team. For football (6,428), baseball (2,416), and men's (1,657) and women's basketball (761), more than 11,000 former student-athletes have returned to college and earned degrees. These student-athletes are typically not counted in the federal graduation rate or Graduation Success Rate calculations.