Academic Progress Rate

The Academic Progress Rate (also known as APR) is a metric established by the NCAA to measure the success or failure of collegiate athletic teams in moving student-athletes towards graduation. It was instituted in February of 2005. In its first season of usage, three sports - football, basketball, and baseball - posted average APR scores below the NCAA-determined minimum level.

Collegiate sports teams that fail to achieve an APR score of 925 - equivalent to a 50% graduation rate - may be penalized with the loss of scholarships. A perfect score is 1000. The scores are calculated as follows:

: "The APR is calculated by allocating points for eligibility and retention -- the two factors that research identifies as the best indicators of graduation. Each player on a given roster earns a maximum of two points per term, one for being academically eligible and one for staying with the institution. A team's APR is the total points of a team's roster at a given time divided by the total points possible. Since this results in a decimal number, the CAP decided to multiply it by 1,000 for ease of reference. Thus, a raw APR score of .925 translates into the 925 that will become the standard terminology."ref|<1>

The first penalties under the APR system were scheduled to be announced in December 2005.

The APR is designed to measure semester-by-semester academic progress, and is separate from the Graduation Success Rate (GSR), which only aims to measure the actual percentage of student-athletes who graduate, thus omitting students who would have graduated but left school early for non-academic reasons (such as a professional career).

Notes

# [http://www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/association_news/ncaa_news_online/2005/02_14_05/front_page_news/4204n01.html APR 101] Brown, Gary. "NCAA News Online," February 14, 2005.

External links

* [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/051228transfers.html APR and the transfer rule, by Baseball America]
* [http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4g38nACSYGYxqb6kWhCjggRX4_83FR9b_0A_YLc0IhyR0VFALgS4S8!/delta/base64xml/L0lDU0lKQ1RPN29na21BISEvb0VvUUFBSVFnakZJQUFRaENFSVFqR0VBLzRKRmlDbzBlaDFpY29uUVZHaGQtc0lRIS83XzBfNVNGLzQxMzkzOA!!?WCM_PORTLET=PC_7_0_5SF_WCM&WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/NCAA/Academics%20and%20Athletes/Education%20and%20Research/Academic%20Reform/ NCAA - Academic Reform Website]