June 20, 2008

Bronx, N.Y. - Six Fordham University athletic teams were among more than 800 Division I squads to be publicly recognized by the NCAA for their latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, posting multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort.

Being honored for the Rams are Baseball, Men's Tennis, Women's Crew, Women's Indoor Track, Women's Outdoor Track, and Women's Tennis. All six teams were also among those honored for their APRs in 2006-07.

"It is a tremendous accomplishment for the six teams that have been recognized by the NCAA to do it two years in a row," said Executive Director of Athletics, Frank McLaughlin. "All Fordham student-athletes work intensely on balancing their academic and athletic pursuits and we recognize these six teams for their excellence."

For the second consecutive year, Fordham is tops in the Atlantic 10 with the six teams recognized, tied with Xavier and Dayton.

The A-10 ranked third out of 27 conferences in men's swimming & diving; fourth out of 31 conferences in men's and women's indoor track & field, men's and women's outdoor track & field, men's tennis and men's cross country; fourth (out of 29) in women's swimming & diving; and fifth out of 31 in baseball.

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility, retention and graduation of each scholarship student-athlete. An APR of 925 projects to an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of approximately 60 percent.

The 839 teams receiving awards this year represent 217 Division I colleges and universities, or two-thirds of the 326 institutions that compete in NCAA Division I athletics. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 975 to a perfect 1,000, said NCAA President Myles Brand.

"Overall, there is much to be encouraged about with the latest data," Brand said. "When we started four years ago, baseball and football were in serious trouble. There has been great improvement in both of those sports. We are not out of the woods, however. There are individual institutions that have seen steady decline in APR over the last four years. The situation is dire for them."

APR scores per institution, along with penalties per school and teams receiving public recognition, are available online at ncaa.org.