Among the 313 teams at 23 HBCUs, 13 of them had no teams which scored below the minimum standard of 930. Alcorn State, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Grambling State, Hampton, Howard, Jackson State, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central, Southern, Tennessee State, and Texas Southern achieved this feat. North Carolina A&T State had the highest APR among all HBCUs at 978, followed closely by Howard (977), North Carolina Central (976), Jackson State (973), Norfolk State (971), and Hampton (970). Of the six schools that scored above 970, four were public institutions. The 18 public HBCUs had an average APR of 963 and the 3 private HBCUs had an average APR of 957. The sports of Softball (all 23 schools), Women's Soccer (14 schools), and Women's Track (all 23 schools) saw all institutions meet the required standard of 930 or higher.
Multiple HBCU Programs Excel With APR Scores, Some Have Much To Be Desired
Multiple HBCU Programs Excel With APR Scores, Some Have Much To Be Desired
Take A Deep Dive Inside The Numbers at HBCUs And What Do They Mean
June 15, 2022 | Atlanta, GA
A.D. Drew, Black College Sports Network
On June 14, 2022, the NCAA released its latest Academic Progress Report (APR). The report measures academic progress for all Division I schools through the 2021 academic school year. The reporting of APR returned, after not being released in 2021 due to COVID-19.
According to the NCAA, the APR is calculated as follows:
- Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
- A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.
- In addition to a team’s current-year APR, its rolling four-year APR is also used to determine accountability.
Teams must earn a four-year average APR of 930 to compete in championships. Data is collected from the 6,063 teams throughout NCAA Division I. The national four-year average for APR is 984, which is one point higher than the last information released in May 2020. Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating each term. Teams that scored below the 930 benchmark would have to face penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics. Because of the current penalty moratorium in place, teams will not be subjected to penalties this year. Scores for limited resource institutions averaged 968 (776 teams), while scores for HBCUs averaged 955 (313 teams).
There were 1,372 teams (22.6%) that received a perfect score of 1,000. HBCUs accounted for 20 of these perfect scores (1.5% of the 1,372 with a perfect score). North Carolina A&T State was the only institution among all HBCUs to have three teams achieve a perfect 1000 APR score, with Men's Golf, Women's Bowling, and Women's Cross Country accomplishing the feat. Alabama A&M (Men and Women Tennis), Grambling State (Men and Women Cross Country), Howard (Men and Women Golf), Jackson State (Women Bowling, Women Volleyball), Morgan State (Men and Women Tennis), North Carolina Central (Men and Women Tennis), and Tennessee State (Women Gold, Women Tennis) had two teams achieve perfection. Alcorn State (Women Cross Country), Mississippi Valley State (Women Cross Country), Norfolk State (Men Tennis) and Prairie View A&M (Men Tennis) had singular programs achieve a 1000 score. The three institutions that do not participate in a traditional HBCU conference: Hampton, North Carolina A&T State, and Tennessee State, combined to achieve a score of 973. The MEAC conference schools combined for a score of 964. The SWAC came in with an APR of 961, with the SWAC West scoring 964 compared to the SWAC East's 958.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 7 of the 23 HBCUs had two or more teams fail to meet the APR score of 930, with Bethune-Cookman having four teams fall short: Football, Men's Cross Country, Men's Track, and Women's Tennis. Men's Cross Country and Men's Track fell below 900 with an 808 and 877, respectively. Alabama State (Football, Men Basketball, Women Volleyball) and South Carolina State (Men Tennis, Women Cross Country, Women Volleyball) each had three teams below standard. Delaware State (Men and Women Basketball), Maryland-Eastern Short, (Men Basketball, Men Golf), Alabama A&M (Baseball, Men Track), and Prairie View A&M (Men Golf, Women Basketball) had two teams below the required 930 APR. Only Bethune-Cookman, as an institution, had an APR below the 930 threshold, coming in at 928. South Carolina State was the only other HBCU to have a total APR less than 950 with a 947.
With the current moratorium on sanctions for not reaching the minimum standards, schools will not be penalized this year. According to www.ncaa.org, the APR is intended as an incentive-based approach, it does come with a progression of penalties for teams that under-perform academically over time.
The first penalty level limits teams to 16 hours of athletics activities per week over five days (as opposed to 20 over six days), with the lost four hours to be replaced with academic activities. A second level adds additional athletics activities and competition reductions, either in the traditional or non-championships season, to the first level penalties.
While postseason bans are commonly applied as a penalty in the NCAA enforcement process, they are not considered as a penalty for poor academic performance. Instead, the requirement that teams achieve a minimum APR is simply a benchmark for participation in championships. Just as teams must win in competition to be eligible for championships, they must also achieve in the classroom.
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