Division I student-athletes continue to achieve academic success: The national four-year Academic Progress Rate for Division I teams remained steady at 984 for a fourth consecutive year. National sport averages either increased or held steady, as well. Men's basketball remained at 968, with baseball (979), football (964) and women's basketball (982) all increasing by 1 point from last year's reported APR scores.
Additionally, many former student-athletes are returning to the classroom to complete their degrees after exhausting their athletics eligibility. 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.
Dave Schnase, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs, said, "As the college athletics landscape continues to evolve, what remains unchanged is the academic success of student-athletes. We applaud the incredible academic achievements of hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and the support provided by their schools. We are committed to supporting the continued advancement of their academic success and athletic pursuits."
Each academic year, every Division I sports team's APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and 1 point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term. For schools that do not offer athletics scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
This is the fourth consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Division I board approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties. Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition were originally scheduled to resume in spring 2024, but the Division I Committee on Academics decided not to enforce the loss of access to postseason competition for teams that scored lower than 930 last year, instead offering a conditional waiver due to lingering impacts of the pandemic.
However, normal operations are being enforced this year for teams scoring below the 930 benchmark, with strategic penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics.
A full list of APRs for each team can be accessed by using the APR searchable database.
