Canes Making the Grade in Latest NCAA APR

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Two University of Miami athletic teams earned a perfect 1,000 score in the latest Academic Progress Rate statistics released Tuesday by the NCAA. Women’s golf and women’s cross country posted perfect scores for the Hurricanes.

In the latest NCAA APR report, based on scores from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years, every Miami program registered an APR score of at least 945 and no teams are subject to penalty.

Six teams scored 980 or better out of a possible 1,000 points – baseball (983), men’s basketball (990), men’s tennis (993), women’s cross country (1,000), women’s golf (1,000), women’s swimming (989) and volleyball (995).

Three Hurricanes teams were publicly honored last week for being among the top 10 percent in APR – men’s basketball, women’s cross and country and women’s golf. It marked the third consecutive year that women’s golf received an APR Public Recognition Award and the second straight year for women’s cross country, while men’s basketball earned its first public recognition.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’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. The multi-year score is calculated by using a four-year rolling average.

In the fall of 2011, the Division I Board of Directors approved tougher academic standards, including setting a new standard that teams must meet to participate in postseason competition. The goal of the NCAA’s academic performance program is improvement, not punishment. Not only does the program ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams and institutions, but also it provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school. Under the revised penalty structure, the Division I Board of Directors has set a cut score of 900 (out of 1,000) as a threshold for teams to meet or face possible sanctions.

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