NCAA Releases APR Data, 'Cats Continue to Excel
5/19/2020 12:08:00 PM | Academic Services & Student Development
EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern excelled in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA, matching a school-record with 12 programs earning perfect scores.
NCAA APR SEARCHABLE DATABASE
The Wildcats led the Big Ten Conference with 12 programs boasting the highest APR in their respective sport, with 11 of those programs earning perfect 1,000 multi-year rates.
Northwestern baseball, field hockey, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's basketball, cross country, women's golf, lacrosse, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving and women's volleyball represented the University at the Big Ten level with perfect marks, while the football program led its conference counterparts with a score of 995. The Wildcats fencing program, which competes in the Midwest Conference, also earned an unblemished multi-year rate.
The football program has ranked in the Top-3 among FBS programs for 10-consecutive years and has tallied a score of 995-or-better in four-straight years.
Men's basketball was the lone Big Ten hoops program to post a perfect score and just one of 12 nationally at the Division I level.
Northwestern field hockey, women's hoops and women's swimming and diving were one of two Big Ten teams from their respective sport to have an unblemished score.
The Division I multi-year rate for football was 964, while men's basketball was 966 and women's basketball was 983.
The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years.
All 12 varsity programs that earned perfect multi-year rates, in addition to football and wrestling, were recognized by the NCAA on May 13, 2020, with Public Recognition Awards for placing in the Top-10% of their respective sports in the latest multi-year rates.
Northwestern led all Division I FBS institutions with 74% of its sport programs earning Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards. The Public Recognition Award is given to programs that score in the Top-10% of their respective sport.
The APR, created to provide more of a real-time measurement of academic success than graduation rates offer, is a team-based metric in which scholarship student-athletes earn 1 point each term for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating. Schools that don't offer scholarships track their recruited student-athletes.
Every Division I sports team submits data to have its Academic Progress Rate calculated each academic year. The NCAA reports both single-year and four-year rates, on which penalties for poor academic performance are based. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable, member-provided data. APRs for each team, lists of teams receiving public recognition and those receiving sanctions are available online through the NCAA's searchable database.
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