NCAA Releases Two-Year Figures for Academic Progress Rate
3/1/2006 7:00:00 AM | Terrapin Athletics
March 1, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - All University of Maryland teams were above the cut score today as the NCAA released its new Academic Performance Rate (APR) two-year figures.
The APR is the new index developed by the NCAA to provide, by team, a real-time snapshot of student-athlete retention and eligibility performance of all Division I institutions. Also allowed are bonus points for student-athletes returning to graduate. The APR is part of a larger system package, the NCAA Academic Performance Program (APP), which was mandated by the NCAA Board of Directors to improve the academic performance of athletic teams.
In calculating the APR, each student-athlete who receives athletic aid receives one point for continuing as a full-time student or graduating, and one point for remaining eligible to compete each semester. The maximum number of points a student-athlete can earn in an academic year is four. A team's APR is the total number of points earned divided by the maximum number of points possible. This APR number is then multiplied by 1,000. (For example, a team which receives 94 percent of all possible points would have a team APR of 940.)
The APR has established a benchmark, called the cut score, under which contemporaneous penalties will be imposed in the form of scholarship reductions for those teams which fall below the cut score. However, no penalties are imposed if a team falls below the cut score if it still falls in a range known as the "confidence interval," a statistical measure which takes into consideration the squad size of teams. The cut score was established at 925 and equates to an approximate 50 percent graduation rate.
Some penalties could be assessed now that two years of data are available. The NCAA will eventually base penalties on a team's four-year rolling APR average.
MARYLAND'S ACADEMIC PROGRESS RATE RESULTS
All intercollegiate varsity teams tracked by the NCAA that are sponsored by the University of Maryland were above the cut score. The NCAA does not track figures for competitive cheer. Six teams - men's cross country, men's indoor track, men's outdoor track, women's cross country, women's golf and gymnastics - scored 1,000, meaning every scholarship student-athlete on their respective roster remained at the university and was also eligible to compete or graduated.
Men's basketball ranked in the 60th-70th percentile nationally, with an APR of 949. The average men's basketball APR for all public institutions was 917. Women's basketball had an APR of 944.
Maryland football scored well above the cut score, with an APR of 947, which placed it nationally in the 60th-70th percentile of all D-I football programs. Nationally, the average for all public institutions in football was 920.
The three university teams that missed the cut score in last spring's release of the one-year figures were all above the 925 cut score in the two-year numbers released today.
Overall, 22 of Maryland's programs had a multi-year APR figure higher than or equal to the national average for all Division I public institutions.
APR FACTS
RATE CALCULATION
THE SYSTEM
MARYLAND'S ACADEMIC INITIATIVES
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Academic Progress Rate is meant to be a real-time snapshot of a program's success in terms of student-athlete retention and eligibility. Graduation rates are six-year compilations of those student-athletes in a particular freshman class who receive athletics aid upon entering the institution and who graduate within that six-year window.
The NCAA has developed a new graduation-rate formula - the Graduation Success Rate or GSR. This new graduation-rate index is meant to give a more accurate look at an institution's success rate by taking into account those student-athletes who transfer in or out of an institution, as opposed to the federal rate calculations in which transfers count against the institution.
The APR and graduation-rate formulas also handle transfers differently. Student-athletes who transfer from a school count against a team's federal graduation rate, even if they were in good standing at the time of their transfer or if they eventually earn a degree. The APR gives credit for those student-athletes who were eligible or in good academic standing at the time of their transfer.
The athletics department will continue our long-standing commitment of providing support to our student-athletes. The registrar's office tracks academic outcomes for student-athletes and the results are reviewed by the university's Faculty Athletics Representative and the university's Athletic Council, a group of faculty and staff.
MARYLAND'S MULTIYEAR APR SCORES
Sport Maryland Team APR Average APR for
Div. I Public Institutions
Baseball 951 920
Men's Basketball 949 917
Men's Cross Country 1,000 948
Football 947 920
Men's Golf 975 955
Men's Lacrosse 972 965
Men's Soccer 945 943
Men's Swimming & Diving 944 961
Men's Tennis 962 954
Men's Indoor Track & Field 1,000 941
Men's Outdoor Track & Field 1,000 940
Wrestling 959 929
Women's Basketball 944 953
Women's Cross Country 1,000 966
Field Hockey 993 980
Women's Golf 1,000 968
Women's Gymnastics 1,000 979
Women's Lacrosse 978 978
Women's Soccer 968 964
Softball 984 959
Women's Swimming & Diving 974 974
Women's Tennis 968 964
Women's Indoor Track & Field 985 958
Women's Outdoor Track & Field 985 959
Women's Volleyball 947 963
Women's Water Polo 971 967
