April 27, 2009
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.
These teams posted 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. The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.
Being honored for the Rams are Baseball, Men's Tennis, Women's Soccer, Women's Indoor Track, Women's Outdoor Track, and Women's Tennis. Baseball, Men's Tennis, Women's Indoor Track and Women's Outdoor Track have all been honored in each of the three years the NCAA has released scores, while women's tennis is recognized for the second time and women's soccer the first.
"It is a great achievement for the six teams that have been recognized by the NCAA, especially the four programs that have been acknowledged in each of the past three years," said Executive Director of Athletics, Frank McLaughlin. "The individuals from these teams are great examples of how Fordham student-athletes successfully balance their academic and athletic pursuits and we are extremely proud of these six teams for their excellence."
The six teams honored rank Fordham second in the Atlantic 10, tied with Dayton, one behind Xavier.
Among the 31 Division I conferences, the Ivy Group had the most number of teams honored (144), followed by the Patriot League (85), the Big East Conference (60), the Atlantic Coast Conference (51) and the Atlantic 10 (50).
"I applaud all of our institutions and student-athletes for the great example they have set," says Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. "Being recognized for outstanding academic achievement, combined with tremendous athletic success, is a great compliment to the educational mission of the A-10 and its member institutions."
The Atlantic 10 has fifty of the 767 Division I sports teams being honored with public recognition awards by the NCAA for their latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate scores. This represents an increase of 16 A-10 teams from a year ago.
Among the 21 sports sponsored by the Atlantic 10, women's indoor track & field and women's tennis both had a league-high six teams honored, while at least one team was cited in each of the nine men's sports sponsored by the Conference. Twelve A-10 schools had multiple teams garner distinction and 13 institutions had at least one program recognized.
Nationally, the teams recognized this year for high achievement represent 11.9 percent of the approximately 6,484 Division I teams. The list includes 448 women's teams and 319 men's or mixed squads. A total of 205 institutions, out of 331 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list.
Last year, a total of 712 teams were recognized. The number of teams in some sports may exceed 10 percent depending on how many achieved perfect 1,000 APR scores.
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.
APR scores per institution, along with penalties per school and teams receiving public recognition, are available online at ncaa.org.
