CSU had the top academic performance by Academic Progress Rate (APR) standards in the Mountain West in 2015-16, the NCAA announced.
The program set a school record with 10 of 14 sports (men’s indoor and outdoor track are combined as are the women’s programs) scoring perfect 1,000s from the last completed academic year.
“Being the leader in the Mountain West in APR is definitely a feather in our University’s cap,” director of athletics Joe Parker said. “This is a tribute to our coaches for recruiting quality student-athletes, the professors and instructors here at Colorado State in their teaching excellence and our academic staff for continuing to work with all student-athletes to succeed in the classroom.
A perfect 10
The Rams’ sports programs that earned single-year perfect APRs are men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s track and field, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s swimming & diving, women’s volleyball and women’s track and field. The remaining four program (football, men’s basketball, softball, women’s tennis) all scored above 955, surpassing the NCAA standard of 930.
CSU led Mountain West schools in percentage of perfect APR scores in 2015-16 relative to number of sports sponsored and is just one of three league members with 50 percent or more at the perfect score of 1000. CSU’s percentage of 72.4 led the way, with Boise State and San Jose State (each at 50 percent) joining the Rams at half or more of their sport programs meeting the perfect standard. The Rams were also second in terms of total sports with perfect scores, only surpassed by Air Force’s 11 of its 25 sports with perfect scores.
Improvement across the board
Per the NCAA, Division I student-athletes improved academically for the 13th consecutive year, earning another all-time high four-year Academic Progress Rate.
The 2015-16 overall four-year rate is 981, up two points from the four-year rate announced last year. Among the improvements, men’s basketball earned a 966 four-year rate (up from 964), and women’s basketball earned a 980 (up from 978). CSU is ahead of the national average in both programs, with women’s basketball 11 points ahead of the sport average at 991 and the men 10 points ahead (976) of the national men’s basketball rate.
NCAA President Mark Emmert applauded Division I student-athletes for their continued academic achievement and dedication to earning a degree.
“I am so pleased that the Academic Progress Rates continue to rise, but I am more excited about what those numbers mean: Thousands of college athletes continue to make real progress toward earning their degrees,” Emmert said. “A college degree, combined with the skills they learn while participating in sports, will provide countless opportunities for them later in life.”
Every Division I sports team across the nation calculates its Academic Progress Rate each academic year, like a report card. Scholarship student-athletes each semester earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. At schools that don’t offer scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
