The NCAA publicly released the Division I 2016-17 Academic Progress Rate (APR) Institutional Report on Wednesday, revealing an excellent score of 995 across all 16 sports sponsored by Radford University Athletics for the 16-17 academic year.
The score was boosted thanks to perfect ratings of 1,000 by twelve Radford programs: baseball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, softball, women’s tennis, women’s track & field and volleyball.
The 2016-17 academic year showed strong improvements from the Highlanders across the board, beating their four-year average of 984 that aggregates the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years. Both scores earned by Radford Athletics beat the national four-year average of 983.
“All of our student-athletes work extremely hard to reach their academic and athletic potentials,” said Assistant AD for Compliance Michael Chamberlain. “We take a great deal of pride in our academic performance and the student-athletes should be commended for their dedication in the classroom. Our coaches are extremely dedicated in stressing the importance of academics, along with our Assistant AD for Student-Athlete Support Services Alix Guynn.”
On May 16, the Radford women’s tennis and women’s cross country programs were honored for their outstanding results in the APR report, earning the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award. The award is given to teams in the top 10 percent of each sport according to APR’s four-year aggregate. In addition, the baseball, men’s soccer, women’s cross country, and women’s tennis teams earned (or tied) the highest APR scores in the Big South Conference for their respective sports.
The Radford women’s basketball program posted a four-year APR score of 995, easily beating the national average of 982 for the sport. Volleyball’s APR score of 995 and baseball’s APR score of 993 also stand out for the Highlanders.
“We’ve seen a remarkable evolutionary shift in Division I over the last 14 years. Administrators, coaches and students all make academic achievement and graduation top focus areas,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert. “The APR is a powerful metric that leads ultimately to more graduates and more student-athletes with better opportunities after college.”
The APR, created to be a more real-time measurement of academic success than graduation rates, is a team-based metric through which scholarship student-athletes earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating each term. To compete in the 2018-19 postseason, teams must achieve a 930 four-year APR.
Radford University APR Scores – 2016-17 | Multi-Year Rate
Baseball – 1000 | 993
Men’s Basketball – 1000 | 980
Men’s Cross Country – 1000 | 970
Men’s Golf – 1000 | 979
Men’s Soccer – 965 | 989
Men’s Tennis – 1000 | 963
Softball – 1000 | 979
Women’s Basketball – 1000 | 995
Women’s Cross Country – 1,000 | 1000
Women’s Golf – 1000 | 978
Women’s Lacrosse – 989 | 980
Women’s Soccer – 976 | 981
Women’s Tennis – 1000 | 1000
Women’s Track and Field – 1000 | 980
Volleyball – 1000 | 995
