Colorado University Athletics
CU's Annual APR Report Scores Continue At High Level
May 27, 2016 | General
BOULDER - The University of Colorado Academic Progress Rate (APR) report based on information for the four year period between 2010-11 and 2013-14 was released by the NCAA Wednesday with those of all other Division I schools, with CU once again reporting record news for all 17 of its intercollegiate athletic programs in that time frame.
For the fifth consecutive year, the APR result, averaged across the sport programs, is the highest in school history since the NCAA's Academic Performance Program was introduced in 2003. In this latest report, CU student-athletes have recorded a number of significant accomplishments:
- Of CU's 17 programs, 13 have averages that exceeded the national average for their sport, and the four that did not are reasonably close;
- The men's cross country team earned the NCAA's APR Recognition Award, achieving a perfect four-year APR score of 1000 (top 10 percent in its sport), and along the way won the NCAA Championship and a fourth straight Pac-12 championship last November;
- The women's lacrosse team, completed its second year with a perfect 1000 APR score;
- Five sport programs achieved a perfect 1000 score for the 2013-14 academic year, men's cross country, men's skiing, women's basketball, women's golf, and women's lacrosse;
- Eight CU programs improved their four-year APR score from last year's 2012-13 report, giving the school its highest-ever APR average across all teams, a 985, since the inception of the Academic Performance Program;
- Seven teams scored a perfect 1000 in their 2013-14 annual APR; the women's basketball team has now earned three consecutive perfect annual scores;
- Football continued its steady upward trend in APR performance with a 957 score, six years removed from a 919 in 2008-09 that led to a six-scholarship penalty, the low point in CU's APR history; and
- For the first time this year, CU has computed a composite APR score of 977; this takes into account roster sizes across all sports and then determines a true composite APR score from points earned through eligibility/graduation and retention. This statistic is not provided yet by the NCAA, and it projects graduation rates in the future well above those of the CU general student population.
"Our teams' APR scores have reached a somewhat stable high level, well distant from the penalty threshold of 930," said Dr. David Clough, CU's Faculty Athletics Representative after examining the APR scores released for the 2013-14 academic year. "Our record with the APR scores, combined with the team grade point average results, give strong evidence that our student-athletes generally perform to a high standard in their academic work.
"Much credit goes to the personnel in the Herbst Academic Center as they help our student-athletes toward success and to stay on track toward graduation," he added. "The combined time demands of athletics and academics present a stiff challenge to our student-athletes."
Clough is a member of the NCAA Committee on Academics which has responsibility for oversight of the Association's Academic Performance Program and Academic Progress Rate measure.
The men's golf team showed the greatest improvement in the multi-year score, raising its previous four-year score 14 points to a 967. Overall, five programs improved their four-year scores with one other maintaining it; as for the other programs, with the scores starting to level off at a high level, all fluctuations were 10 points or less.
No CU team has a score anywhere in the neighborhood of a 930, which is the penalty threshold that leads to the loss of postseason competition and other sanctions. In fact, 16 of the 17 programs boast a score of 965 or higher, the only exception being football, which as aforementioned has attained a record 957 score (which is just shy of the national average of 960).
"We are all very proud of the hard work of our student-athletes and the success they have achieved in the classroom," said athletic director Rick George. "The staff in Herbst Academic Center, under the direction of Kris Livingston, continues to do a terrific job from the minute the students set foot on campus through graduation and beyond."
The NCAA doesn't compute APR results for all sports combined at every institution, but Colorado's overall APR picture has been outstanding. The team APR averages for all CU student-athletes has improved remarkably from 943 for the 2006-07 report to the current 985. CU will be tracking the composite APR in future years and has established a goal in the school's Sustainable Excellence Initiative of reaching 980 (from the current composite of 977).
The reporting covered all 17 of CU's intercollegiate sport programs (team-by-team statistical data; team GPA is cumulative value as of the Fall 2014 semester and is listed for reference but is not strongly correlated with APR):
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