Eight Programs Gain In NCAA APR Report

BOULDER - The University of Colorado Academic Progress Rate (APR) report based on information for the four year period between 2003-04 and 2006-07 supplied to the NCAA shows that eight of its programs improved upon their scores from the previous year but also has resulted in what the NCAA calls a "historical penalty" for the men's basketball program.

Three CU programs earned a perfect 1000 score for the 2006-07 annual report, men's golf, women's skiing and women's tennis. Multi-year cumulative scores of 1000 have dwindled as it is becoming virtually impossible for a program to maintain that perfect grade as time passes; some attrition is considered natural over the course of multiple years. Overall, eight programs improved upon, with two others matching, their 2005-06 scores.

The multi-year score for the men's basketball program was 873 (875 in '06-07), below the 925 bench mark established by the NCAA, the third time in four years the team had not attained the minimum score. Failure to achieve an overall score of 925 first results in a "historical penalty" amounting to a public reprimand and a requirement to submit an academic improvement plan to the NCAA, which CU has done. Any subsequent historical penalties would result in scholarship reductions and restrictions on practice time.

Nationally, 218 programs have received some kind of sanction, including 53 Division I men's basketball programs, 113 of which will receive immediate penalties and another 35 that will be penalized as well as receive a public warning for historically low performance. Those receiving the historical public warning only, as is Colorado's case, number 44 in all, with 26 to face a historically-based penalty restricting scholarships and practice. Three other Big 12 Conference schools were sanctioned, including one other in men's basketball, Kansas State; Kansas was cited in football and Oklahoma State in women's basketball.

For the fourth consecutive year all of CU's other 15 programs are in good standing overall and not subject to any penalties.

To be removed from probation, a program needs three consecutive years of 900 or higher on the multi-year APR score; if an institution incurs another failing score while on probation, it would be subject up to 10 percent in scholarship losses, with the penalties increasing with each consecutive year of non-compliance. There are also restrictions placed on practice time.

"Our overall success continues to be the result of a healthy academic environment created by many where success becomes possible and it's evident in the report," CU athletic director Mike Bohn said. "I am proud of our student-athletes, our coaches and our passionate staff in academics.

"We all are confident in our men's basketball leadership implementing our academic improvement plan," Bohn added. "(Coach) Jeff Bzdelik participated in developing the plan, and all indications are that the program is headed in the right direction."

Points are deducted to student-athletes who record either "0-for-2's,", those who have left school, quit or transferred in poor academic standing, and "1-for 2's," athletes done with eligibility still working toward their degrees. In the long run they don't hurt the school as when they graduate, the program will pickup those points. None of the current APR info for men's basketball are for any of Bzdelik's recruits.

Football had the only other score below 900 in CU's 2006-07 APR report, but it appears to be a one-year aberration at this point considering future projections. Twenty-four players over the four years of the information collected affected CU's 888 football score, 18 of whom were recruited by former head coach Gary Barnett and six by current coach Dan Hawkins.

The Division I Board of Directors set cut scores of 925 and 900 (out of 1000) as a threshold for teams to meet or face possible immediate contemporaneous and historical sanctions. An APR of 925 translates to approximately a 50 percent graduation success rate (GSR) and an APR of 900 translates to approximately a 45 percent GSR. "Confidence boundaries" (squad size adjustments) have been included in the system for teams with small rosters, but most of those are disappearing as the cohort numbers have increased in most sports to eliminate the need for adjustments.

Two things with the APR that are new this year include academic improvement plans and a grade point average component for transferring students. Every team posting an APR score below 925 is required to develop a specific academic improvement plan, while teams posting APR scores below 900 must submit those plans to the NCAA national office for review. For those student-athletes who are transferring, if their GPA is greater than 2.6, the institution does not lose a point.

Now four years into the APR report card system, numbers have settled down statistically as program histories have taken firmer roots. 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. Next year, as another year's data is counted, the first year comes off.

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

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).

The reporting covered all 16 of CU's intercollegiate sport programs; team-by-team statistical data:

Program	2003-04 APR	2004-05 APR	2005-06 APR	2006-07 APR	Four-Year APR
Men's Basketball	815	960	885	875	873
Men's Cross Country	934	1000	939	964	980
Football	936	962	918	888	929
Men's Golf	1000	969	952	1000	980
Men's Skiing	1000	957	957	964	969
Men's Indoor Track	918+	1000	938	938	945
Men's Outdoor Track	918+	1000	938	939	948
Women's Basketball	914+	979	980	946	957
Women's Cross Country	979	1000	932	909	957
Women's Golf	976	1000	917	906	945
Women's Skiing	947	889	938	1000	942
Women's Soccer	919+	971	984	977	964
Women's Tennis	906+	964	967	1000	959
Women's Indoor Track	957	1000	940	940	959
Women's Outdoor Track	957	1000	940	960	940
Women's Volleyball	1000	1000	960	980	960
+Indicates score was within the confidence boundary established early on in the APR process (no longer exists), even though it was below 925.

Colorado University Athletics

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