Virginia Tech football has its highest multi-year APR score since NCAA began keeping track
The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate figures for 2010-11, and the Virginia Tech football team’s score is its highest since the metric was first instituted in 2004-05.
The Hokies had a multi-year APR score of 968, well above the NCAA-mandated threshold of 900. They had a 981 single-year score, also a team best.
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The APR, which reflects four years of performance, is used by the NCAA to measure athletes’ progress toward degrees.
Teams can earn two points per student-athlete, one for retaining an athlete in school and another for that athlete making progress toward a degree. A percentage is calculated on earned points out of total possible points. The decimal figure is then multiplied by 1,000 for a final score.
This season and next, teams that fail to achieve a 900 four-year APR score or a 930 average for the most recent two years are subject to a postseason ban and scholarship cuts. In 2014-15, that benchmark will go up to 930 for a four-year score or a 940 average over the two most recent years. In 2015-16, teams must earn a four-year score of 930, which predicts a 50 percent graduation rate.
Past Virginia Tech football teams would have been closer to the APR threshold, and in some cases below it, using the future standard. The Hokies had a 928 four-year score in 2005-06 and a 929 score in 2006-07.
But the team’s score has gone up each of the last five years to the current 968. That puts the Hokies in the 70 to 80th percentile in the sport, 16 points higher than the average for Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
Here are the Virginia Tech football team’s multi-year APR scores by year. (Single-year scores, which have only been released recently, are in parentheses):
- 2010-11: 968 (981)
- 2009-10: 955 (973)
- 2008-09: 940 (956)
- 2007-08: 932
- 2006-07: 929
- 2005-06: 928
- 2004-05: 935
Every ACC football team made the cut, although a few will have to improve if they don’t want to sweat out the possibility of a postseason ban starting in 2014-15. Here’s the list of multi-year scores for the 2010-11 academic year:
- Duke: 989
- Clemson: 983
- Miami: 980
- Boston College: 977
- Georgia Tech: 974
- Wake Forest: 973
- Virginia Tech: 968
- Virginia: 944
- North Carolina: 943
- Florida State: 937
- N.C. State: 931
- Maryland: 931
For those curious, every one of Virginia Tech’s athletic teams made the grade this year as well. Here’s a list of multi-year scores by sport:
- Men’s golf — 1,000
- Men’s tennis — 1,000
- Men’s cross country — 1,000
- Women’s soccer — 992
- Women’s cross country — 991
- Women’s swimming — 991
- Women’s volleyball — 990
- Women’s lacrosse — 988
- Baseball — 986
- Women’s basketball — 986
- Women’s tennis — 985
- Men’s indoor track — 983
- Men’s outdoor track — 983
- Wrestling — 979
- Men’s swimming — 977
- Men’s basketball — 976
- Football — 968
- Softball — 968
- Men’s soccer — 966
- Women’s outdoor track — 966
- Women’s indoor track — 961
As far as single-year figures, Virginia Tech’s men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball teams achieved perfect scores of 1,000.
June 20, 2012 - 2:04 PM
It does make one wonder how it is that a non-revenue sport, golf for example, are able to score 1000 points while the football team are lower. I suppose that case could be made of players turning pro before their senior years (Wilson, Hosley, as example) lower the overall team score. However, it does beg the question, suppose Wilson, for example, was to continue taking classes to the progression of obtaining a degree are factored in the APR scoring.
I’m not surprised Puke is #1 in the ACC with their APR, but I cringe at UNC’s. I suppose the scandal that have affected the football program didn’t help matter.
It’s actually pretty easy for a non-revunue sport such as golf to achieve a perfect score when they only have approximately 10 student-athletes, versus football which has around 100.
If Wilson were to continue is coursework his points would not count towards the teams APR score as he is no longer on the team.
Look where the hoos are, 8th place out of 12, and we all thought the hoos were smart ???????????????
repeating some comments from earlier today it looks like we are running a respectable program.
Looks like along with getting two really good recruiting classes, Seth was keeping the current guys up to A..PaR too. Thanks Coach for treating Tech a whole lot better then they treated you.
ZMAN,
I agree wholeheartedly. But a change in philosophy on the offensive side of the ball is what might get us over the hump and eventually get that National Championship.
Yes, players leaving early hurts your 4-year APR. As does players transferring, I believe. It also only applies to students who are on athletic scholarship. If Johnny Offthestreet is flunking out but does not have an athletic scholarship, his information isn’t counted.
From Wikipedia:
Teams that fail to achieve an APR score of 925 – equivalent to a 50% graduation rate – may be penalized. A perfect score is 1000. The scores are calculated as follows:
“Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one retention point for staying in school and one eligibility point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by the points possible and then multiplied by one thousand to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate score. Example: A Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team awards the full complement of 85 grants-in-aid. If 80 student-athletes remain in school and academically eligible, three remain in school but are academically ineligible and two drop out academically ineligible, the team earns 163 of 170 possible points for that term. Divide 163 by 170 and multiply by 1,000 to determine that the team’s Academic Progress Rate for that term is 959.[8]
The NCAA calculates the rate as a rolling, four-year figure that takes into account all the points student-athletes could earn for remaining in school and academically eligible during that period. Teams that do not earn an Academic Progress Rate above specific benchmarks face penalties ranging from scholarship reductions to more severe sanctions like restrictions on scholarships and practice time.”
There are some questions as to how this will affect the BCS as the BCS is independent of the NCAA despite involving NCAA institutions. Further, there are currently 17 D1-A and 37 D1-AA teams that will face postseason bans if their APRs do not improve.
On the men’s basketball side, if the 930 ban had been in effect this past season, 99 teams would have been barred from postseason play. UConn is one of ten teams banned from the 2012-2013 postseason and if those school’s APR don’t improve their entire athletic department will be suspended from NCAA membership for one year.
For those curious, here are the teams barred from postseason play in 2012-2013:
Men’s basketball
Connecticut
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
California-Riverside
Jacksonville State
Mississippi Valley State
UNC-Wilmington
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Toledo
Townson
Cal State Bakersfield (data still being evaluated so may be overturned)
Football
Hampton
North Carolina A&T
Texas Southern
Men’s Soccer
Central Connecticut State
Men’s Wrestling
Northern Colorado
Now that this is official, the final piece of the puzzle is in place for Duke to play in a bowl.
Really the APR is meaningless because student athletes take easier courses at some schools than others. While student athletes at UVA are taking classes in the medical or legal profession, VT student athletes are taking fingerpainting classes.
Robert you are pathetic. Same UVAaaaa stupidity on academics. If you want to go that route – the hopital just got a very low grade in comparison to other hospitals in the Commonwealth of VA and lord knows we need another lawyer. I doubt that either one of those majors are pursued by any of your atheletes.
Robert… did you really even believe your gibberish as you were typing it?
Hokie24, know what I think? Intelligence is obviously not a required component for UVa’s admission process.
I’m just stating a fact, VT is a fine academic institution when it comes to admitting regular students (non athletes) but when it comes to student athletes they lower the bar and take the NCAA minimum requirement of 2.0 GPA. I know a few people that couldn’t get into VT with a GPA of about 2.7, but I see where a number of VT football players made it in with a 2.0 GPA. (The only thing they had against them was they wasn’t athletes) Yes Hokie24, I believed it when I was typing it!
Robert, you do realize that UVA does not have a minimum GPA don’t you. Not bashing UVA. Just saying if you did your research you’d see that the GPA disparity between regular students and football players is about the same at both schools. That holds true for SATs as well. You might also note that in both cases football players tend toward certain degrees in disproportionate amounts compared to regular students, none of which are engineering, architecture, law or med. Not only the disparities are about the same, but so are the scores. Heck, this should not be a surprise. the reason there is a recruiting battle between the two schools is because they mostly target the same athletes.
Robert: Really ???? UVA football players are mostly pre-med and pre-law students ?? Please provide facts to support your claims of UVA football/basketball player superiority. I beleive most in the past 20 years or so are/were major in general studies. If you don’t agree present facts or stop posting your crap !
“(The only thing they had against them was they wasn’t athletes)” Robert,
I hope you didn’t get your education from uva, because that’s a poor job by the states flagship university if the above quote is any indication.