COLLEGE PARK, MD – Eight University of Maryland athletic teams earned a perfect 1000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) score per the data released by the NCAA. The teams include: men's golf, men's lacrosse, women's basketball, women's cross country, women's golf, women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse, women's tennis. Maryland's overall departmental APR score of 983 is the second-highest score posted since 2016-2017.
The men's lacrosse, women's cross country and women's golf teams both earned multi-year scores of 1000, which is attained by four consecutive years of perfect single-year APR scores.
Seven sport programs improved their multi-year scores, while an additional six maintained their multi-year scores. An impressive 13 teams boast a multi-year APR score above 980. In total, five intercollegiate sport programs at the University of Maryland improved their single-year APR scores, while an additional seven programs maintained their single-year scores.
"I want to congratulate our Terrapins and our Gossett Center staff on another impressive year," said Damon Evans, Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics. "Once again, our student-athletes performed at the highest levels in the classroom. Our commitment to academic excellence is demonstrated by eight programs recording perfect 1,000 APR scores and seven teams improving their multi-year APR scores."
Men's lacrosse and women's cross country have earned a perfect 1000 in four consecutive years, women's gymnastics has posted a perfect score three consecutive years. Moreover, men's golf, women's lacrosse, and women's tennis have posted perfect scores in two consecutive years. And, women's golf has posted a perfect 1000 APR score every year since 2015-16.
"I couldn't be more proud of the academic accomplishments of our student-athletes, and the attention devoted to academic success by our academics staff, coaches, and administration," said Brady Rourke, Director of the Gossett Center. "Eight teams with perfect APR scores is remarkable. It conveys the energy and focus student-athletes dedicate to academic achievement. Furthermore, the high marks reflect the time and energy GSAC academic staff invest to ensure student-athletes remain in good academic standing and progress toward graduation." "Momentous changes are occurring in college athletics, but academic excellence remains a top priority".
The newly released multi-year APR scores are comprised of data submitted for 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23. The APR index was developed by the NCAA to provide a "real time" snapshot on a semester-by-semester basis in order to measure the eligibility and retention of student-athletes in all Division I institutions. The APR is part of a larger package of initiatives, the NCAA Academic Performance Program, which was mandated by the NCAA Board of Directors to improve the academic performance of athletic teams.
In calculating the APR, all student-athletes receiving athletics financial aid are considered "counters" and each semester receives one point for retention/graduation and one point for meeting NCAA and University of Maryland eligibility standards for competition. The maximum number of APR points a student-athlete can earn in an academic year is four (two in the fall semester and two in the spring semester). A team's APR is the total number of eligibility/retention points earned divided by the maximum number of points possible. This APR number is then multiplied by 1000. (For example, a team that receives 94 percent of all possible points would have a team APR of 940.)
