Virginia Athletics Continues to Excel in NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate Report
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia athletics program once again displayed impressive results in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) Institutional Report released by the NCAA today (May 2). Four Cavalier programs posted perfect multi-year rates of 1,000 while a total of 12 (of 23) teams had a perfect APR for the 2021-22 academic year.
According to the NCAA, the national four-year academic progress rate for the current report remained 984 from the previous year. UVA’s multi-year average for its 23 programs during the current reporting period is 991. For purposes of the report, indoor and outdoor track and field seasons are combined. UVA’s men’s and women’s squash programs are not included in the report since they are not NCAA Championship-sponsored programs.
The NCAA’s minimum APR academic standard for each team is 930. Typically, teams that scored below the benchmark would have to face penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics. However, due to the current penalty suspension (as a result of sports seasons being canceled during the pandemic) in place, teams falling below the minimum 930 score will not be subjected to penalties this year.
Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition will resume in spring 2024. This will also include the public recognition of high-performing teams.
All 23 UVA sports programs included in the report exceeded the required APR of 930. Four Cavalier programs – women’s golf, women’s lacrosse and women’s softball and field hockey – posted perfect multi-year scores of 1,000 and 18 of 23 had a score of at least 990.
It marks the 13th time the UVA women’s golf team has been recognized for a perfect annual score of 1,000, the sixth time for women’s lacrosse, the third time for softball and the second time for field hockey.
The Cavalier football program’s multi-year score of 983 matched its highest in the history of the APR program that dates back to the 2004-05 academic season. The UVA baseball team (994) had its best all-time mark. The Cavalier wrestling team (993) and women’s tennis program (992) also equaled their previous best APR multi-year scores.
The 12 UVA teams with a perfect (1000) APR score for the 2020-21 academic year included: baseball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s soccer, men’s tennis ,field hockey, women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, softball, women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis.
Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
The APR provides a real-time look at a program’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance. This year, the APR score was a multi-year average of the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years.
This is the second year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year COVID-19 hiatus. Last spring, the Division I Board of Directors approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties.