May 7, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS - The University of Dayton Division of Athletics has traditionally been one of top academic performers in the nation and that was backed by the NCAA on Tuesday with the release of the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) reports.

Four different Flyer athletics programs had a perfect APR of 1000. UD men's cross country, men's golf, women's golf and men's tennis were recently honored with Public Recognition Awards by the NCAA for their continued achievement in the multi-year APR which included data for the 2003-2004 through 2006-2007 academic years.

Three other Dayton teams ranked among the top three performing programs in their respective conferences. Flyer men's basketball was also awarded a public recognition award on April 24 after posting an APR of 974 that ranks third in the Atlantic 10 Conference. UD football is second in the Pioneer Football League with a score of 977 while softball was third in the A-10 with an APR of 985.

The most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rates indicate nearly all 6,272 Division I teams are achieving or exceeding the standards for academic performance based on four years of data, said NCAA President Myles Brand.

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility, retention and graduation of each scholarship student-athlete. An APR of 925 projects to an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of approximately 60 percent.

Teams that score below 925 and have a student leave school academically ineligible can lose up to 10 percent of their scholarships. Known as immediate penalties, these scholarships can be lost each year and not awarded until the following year. Teams can also be subject to historical penalties for poor academic performance over time.

"Overall, there is much to be encouraged about with the latest data," Brand said. "When we started four years ago, baseball and football were in serious trouble. There has been great improvement in both of those sports.

The overall APR of Division I student-athletes rose slightly, the latest data show, with increases in both eligibility and retention and a decrease in the number of student-athletes leaving school while academically ineligible, known as 0-for-2s.

The average APR for all Division I student-athletes is 961, according to the latest data. The average APR for male student-athletes is 951, while the average for female student-athletes is 969.

APR data for every NCAA Division I institution can be found at www.ncaa.org.