CU In Good Standing In Latest APR Report

BOULDER - The University of Colorado Academic Progress Rate (APR) based on information for 2005-06 supplied to the NCAA shows that for the third consecutive year, all of CU's programs are in good standing and not subject to any penalties.

Now three years into the APR report card system, numbers are settling down statistically as program histories begin to take firmer root. The NCAA instituted the APR in 2004, with member schools supplying information first for the 2003-04 academic year for an initial look at how schools fared across the country. In that trial run, only one CU program didn't meet the minimum qualifying numbers.

Programs must attain a 925 average score on data submitted for the analysis period; a 925 score corresponds statistically to a 50 percent graduation rate. Included in the system are "confidence boundaries" (squad size adjustments) for teams with small rosters. The latter will go away next year as the cohort numbers will have increased to eliminate the need for adjustments.

While some sports at some schools nationwide had perfect 1000 scores, the number is dwindling as it will be virtually impossible for a program to maintain that perfect grade as time passes; some attrition is considered natural over the course of multiple years. While CU had no perfect scores this time around, four programs improved upon with a fifth team matching their 2004-05 scores.

The numbers can jump in either direction annually, especially in sports with the smaller squad sizes, but 13 of the 16 active CU programs improved annually either last year or this year, the three not doing so having posted perfect 1000 scores the first go-round. The four that improved in the 2005-06 report were all women's sports: basketball, skiing, soccer and tennis; men's skiing matched its previous year's score.

The NCAA has done away with computing overall numbers for schools, as they were issued the first two years of the report but are no longer deemed reflective with three-year data now available for individual sports.

The only active program not to attain the 925 mark was men's basketball (men's tennis, now defunct, registered 900), but remains in good standing as the program had no "0-for-2's" in its report, as no players who quit or transferred left in poor academic standing. Any "1-for 2's," or athletes done with eligibility still working toward their degrees, don't hurt the school in the interim as when they graduate, the program will pickup those points.

The APR system, while complicated, can best be described as one that is based on two factors: eligibility/graduation and retention. Each student-athlete accrues 0, 1 or 2 points per semester; if he or she is in good academic standing, including on-schedule progress toward a degree, and if they are enrolled, they receive two points; if they are one and not the other, they earn a single point, and if neither, zero.

For example, if a team was comprised of 20 student-athletes, and all 20 were in good academic standing and returned to school the next semester, the team's semester APR would be 1000 (40 out of a 40 possible points). The next semester, if two became ineligible, one left school and one stayed, and the other 18 remained in good standing, the semester APR would be 925 (37 of 40). The team's APR for the year would thus be 963 (for 77 out of 80 possible points).

"We continue to be proud of our student-athletes and coaches and in particular those who guide them, all of our passionate staff in academics, as these results are due to the collaboration and diligence of all these special people working together," CU athletic director Mike Bohn said. "They create a healthy environment where success becomes possible and it's evident in the report."

Schools who do not meet the established criteria are subject to financial aid penalties. After one more year of collecting data, historical penalties can be implemented, and those may include losing up to 10 percent of its scholarships.

The reporting covered 17 intercollegiate sport programs, as men's tennis is still included though it was eliminated last summer. Team-by-team statistical data:

Sport	2003-04 APR	2004-05 APR	2005-06 APR	Three-Year APR
Men's Basketball	815	960	885	872
Men's Cross Country	934	1000	939	957
Football	936	962	918	934
Men's Golf	1000	969	952	972
Men's Skiing	1000	957	957	971
Men's Tennis	962	929	833	900
Men's Indoor Track	918+	1000	938	947
Men's Outdoor Track	918+	1000	938	948
Women's Basketball	914+	979	980	955
Women's Cross Country	979	1000	932	972
Women's Golf	976	1000	917	956
Women's Skiing	947	889	938	925
Women's Soccer	919+	971	984	958
Women's Tennis	906+	964	967	944
Women's Indoor Track	957	1000	940	965
Women's Outdoor Track	957	1000	940	966
Women's Volleyball	1000	1000	960	986

+-Indicates a score that is within the confidence boundary, even though it is below 925

Colorado University Athletics

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