Tech athletics programs continue to excel in NCAA Academic Progress Rate program

Three programs receive perfect scores, and four programs recorded or tied all-time best marks

May 10, 2017

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech’s athletics teams recorded strong academic numbers in the NCAA’s latest Academic Progress Rate report, as released by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon.

The APR is a scorecard that tracks classroom performance of Division I sports teams, and it takes into account eligibility and retention of student-athletes over a four-year period. It measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason, and programs also can face penalties for continued low academic performance – teams must achieve a 930 multi-year APR to avoid penalties. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on annual scores from the 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years.

The Tech men’s golf, women’s golf and women’s tennis programs recorded multi-year APRs of 1,000 and ranked tied first in the ACC in their respective sports. The men’s golf and women’s tennis programs were recipients of the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award, which was announced last week and goes to programs with a multi-year APR in the top 10 percent nationally of all squads in each sport. The Tech men’s golf team has scored 1,000 for eight straight years, while the women’s tennis team finished with an APR of 1,000 for the first time and also received a Public Recognition Award for the first time.

The Tech football program recorded a multi-year APR of 967, five points above the Division I average for schools that sponsor football and a point above the FBS average. It also marks the seventh straight year in which the program has been above 950.

The Tech men’s basketball program recorded a multi-year APR of 963, which marks an increase for the fourth straight year.

Other Tech sports that fared well included wrestling, lacrosse, women’s track and field, softball and women’s soccer. The wrestling and women’s track programs recorded all-time multi-year highs at 982 and 979, respectively, while the lacrosse program tied for its highest score ever at 992. With the exception of women’s track, all of those programs were above the national average among Division I schools that sponsor those sports.

The softball program’s 996 multi-year APR ranked third in the ACC. That program has been above the 960 threshold every year since Tech joined the league. The women’s soccer program ranked tied for third in the ACC with a multi-year APR of 997, and it has been above 990 every year since 2009-2010.

Other notable strong performances came from the men’s tennis (992), women’s swimming and diving (988), men’s cross country (986), volleyball (984), men’s track and field (983), baseball (981), men’s swimming and diving (970) and men’s soccer (962) programs.

Seven Tech programs recorded perfect 1,000 APR scores for the 2015-16 academic year only. That contingent included men’s cross country, men’s tennis, men’s track and field, women’s golf, softball, women’s tennis and women’s track and field.

For more information on the APR, please check the NCAA website at www.ncaa.org.

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