INDIANAPOLIS - University of Dayton Athletics has consistently been one of the top academic performers in the nation. Wednesday’s release of the latest NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) report continues that tradition.

Of the Flyers’ 17 teams, 12 had an APR score of 985 or higher (out of a perfect score of 1,000), well above the national average of 973: women’s basketball women’s cross country, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s rowing, women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, women’s track and field – indoor and outdoor, women’s soccer,  men’s basketball and football.

UD men’s and women’s golf, women’s basketball, volleyball, women’s cross country, women’s rowing and women’s tennis each have the top APR in their sport in their respective conferences, while two more – men’s basketball and football – have the second best. Additionally, seven Flyer teams earned perfect APR scores in the latest report, three more than in the previous year.

Last Thursday, nine University of Dayton athletics programs received 2012 APR Public Recognition Awards. The NCAA honors these Division I sports teams that are ranked in the Top 10 percent of the latest multi-year APR scores. The Flyer teams honored were football, men’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s rowing, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.

According to the most recent figures, the latest four-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate is 973, up three points over last year.  15 of UD’s teams performed above the APR national average in their respective sport.

Now in its ninth year, APR is resulting in real measurable impacts, said NCAA President Mark Emmert.

“We expect student-athletes to meet their dual responsibilities, and most of them are doing so,” Emmert said.

In the NCAA’s highest profile sports, the average four-year APR for men’s basketball is 950, up five points over last year; football is 948, up two points; and baseball is 965, up six points.
 
Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility and retention of each scholarship student-athlete. Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face sanctions, such as scholarship losses and restrictions on practice. Rates are based on the past four years’ performance.

The most recent APR scores are multi-year rates based on the scores from the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.

APR scores per institution, along with penalties per school and teams receiving public recognition, are available online through the NCAA’s searchable database.