Local schools get positive APR ratings

Numbers based on eligibility and retention of athletes

In a year in which Division I college athletes posted the best results in academic progress rate history, the 12th consecutive year that has happened, a number of local programs — and schools as a whole — fared well.

At Pitt, 14 of 17 programs perform at or above the national average during the 2015-16 academic year, three of which recorded perfect scores of 1,000. Penn State had 18 programs (out of 29) notch perfect scores, and 22 equaled or surpassed their APR from the previous year.

“We are extremely proud of the APR achievements of our programs,” said Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke in a statement. “Our expectation is to have each of our programs above the national average and we will continue to work [toward] that goal. This year we showed strong progress with over 80 percent of our programs surpassing the national average, including a school-record four programs receiving Public Recognition Awards. This recognition is indicative of the quality of student-athletes our coaches recruit, the student-athletes’ commitment to academic excellence and the framework our academic support staff provide to help our student-athletes achieve at a high level academically.”

The APR is a team-based metric that takes into account the eligibility and retention of every athlete of every program at every school. A player is given one point per semester for remaining academically eligible and receives an additional point each semester if they graduate or remain in school.

A program’s multiyear APR takes those same calculations into account over a four-year period, meaning this year’s figures cover a span from 2012-16. The two major programs at Pitt, football and men’s basketball, earned multiyear scores of 975 and 995, eighth and third in the ACC. Those same programs at Penn State recorded scores of 969 (14th in the Big Ten) and 980 (sixth).

“Penn State student-athletes consistently demonstrate their commitment to excellence in the classroom and all their academic endeavors,” said Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour in a statement. “I am constantly amazed by, and appreciative of, their efforts to prove that academic achievement and athletic success can coexist at a high level. Penn State’s point of difference is the level to which our student-athletes achieve academically while competing for championships.”

The average multiyear APR for programs at Pitt was 984.8 and 985.7 at Penn State. Duquense’s programs posted an average APR of 984.3; Robert Morris’ notched a mark of 978.5. At Duquesne and Robert Morris, which compete at the Football Championship Subdivision level in football, the men’s basketball programs recorded multiyear APRs of 975 and 940, respectively. The men’s and women’s ice hockey programs at Robert Morris each had perfect scores of 1,000. Twelve Duquesne’s 15 programs finished at or above the national average.

The Division I average four-year APR across all sports was 981, up two points from last year. If a school’s program consistently falls below 930, it can be subject to penalties, including a postseason ban. No local program received any kind of disciplinary action for low scores.

Of the 17 programs unable to participate in NCAA tournaments next season because of poor APR scores, 15 came from historically black colleges and universities. The APR, which is compiled from data supplied by the universities, has been criticized in recent years as a tool used to punish schools with more limited resources.

Numbers of interest locally came from more than just Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne and Robert Morris.

At Eastern Michigan, where Lyke had been the athletic director since 2013 before arriving at Pitt in March, programs posted an average score of 980.3. The men’s basketball program at Vanderbilt, where Pitt coach Kevin Stallings was the head coach from 19992016, had a multiyear APR of 976, down one point from where it was last year. Akron’s men’s basketball program, over which new Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot presided from 2004-17, logged a multi year APR of 954 for the second consecutive year.