Happy Academic Progress Rate Day!
For those not clued in on this made up holiday in NCAA parlance, this is the day every spring where folks across the country either celebrate their football team’s ability to get things done in the classroom or spin why their school’s particular score might be on the lower end.
“We are proud of the continued high level of academic success Division I student-athletes achieve,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a news release. “We are seeing some flattening of the rates, which is not unusual given the large amount of data over a long period of time. But we will continue to focus on academic achievement and graduation as the ultimate goal for college athletes.”
Overall, the four-year rolling rate for football (across Division I, not just FBS, it should be noted) stayed level at an average of 964 out of a perfect 1000. Schools are docket points when players fail to graduate, becoming academically ineligible or transfer without completing certain requirements among other things. Those who dip below 930 will be ineligible for the postseason but no team suffered that fate this upcoming year.
A few did come close though. Here are the bottom five FBS teams by multi-year APR rate:
Florida State - 936
East Carolina - 937
Southern Miss - 941
Tulsa - 943
Bowling Green - 944
And here are the top five scores by FBS teams:
Air Force - 997
Northwestern - 996
Clemson/Duke - 992
Navy/Washington/Vanderbilt - 991
Nevada/Utah/Wake Forest -- 989
Congrats to all the administrators and coaches out there for their bonuses today resulting from these scores. If you want to search for a particular school, you can do so here in the NCAA’s database.