NCAA Releases Four-Year Figures for Academic Progress Rate

May 6, 2008

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Twenty-one of 26 intercollegiate teams at the University of Maryland posted multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR) above national averages for Division I public institutions based on data released Tuesday by the NCAA.

Those programs were led by the gymnastics and women's indoor track and field teams, which were noted for public recognition recently as their APR were among the top 10 percent of programs nationally. The gymnastics team earned a perfect rate of 1,000.

Nineteen Maryland programs were in the 50th percentile or higher when compared with the same sport at other institutions nationally.

The figures released were the first with four-year averages in the history of the rate. APR data submitted for the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years are included in the figures released.

From this point forward, four-year rolling averages will be used for all calculations, with the most recent four years being used. For example, when figures are added for 2007-08, the data for the 2003-04 academic year will be dropped.

The APR is the index developed by the NCAA to provide, by team, a real-time snapshot of student-athlete retention and eligibility performance of all Division I institutions. Also allowed are bonus points for student-athletes returning to graduate. The APR is part of a larger system package, the NCAA Academic Performance Program (APP), which was mandated by the NCAA Board of Directors to improve the academic performance of athletic teams.

In calculating the APR, each student-athlete who receives athletic aid receives one point for continuing as a full-time student or graduating, and one point for remaining eligible to compete each semester. The maximum number of points a student-athlete can earn in an academic year is four. A team's APR is the total number of points earned divided by the maximum number of points possible. This APR number is then multiplied by 1,000. (For example, a team which receives 94 percent of all possible points would have a team APR of 940.)

The APR has established a benchmark, called the cut score, under which contemporaneous penalties will be imposed in the form of scholarship reductions for those teams which fall below the cut score. However, no penalties are imposed if a team falls below the cut score if it still falls in a range known as the "confidence interval," a statistical measure which takes into consideration teams whose squad sizes were under 30 for the four years considered. The cut score was established at 925 and equates to an approximate 60 percent graduation rate.

MARYLAND'S ACADEMIC PROGRESS RATE RESULTS

All intercollegiate varsity teams tracked by the NCAA that are sponsored by the University of Maryland were above the cut score in the multiyear rate, with the exception of men's basketball.

Despite being below the 925 cut score, the Maryland men's basketball program will not be subject to contemporaneous penalties, as those student-athletes who did not receive graduation or retention points had exhausted their eligibility. Fifteen of the 21 points lost by men's basketball in the four-year period were due to student-athletes who left to pursue professional careers.

The national average for all Division I public institutions for men's basketball is 918, which is below the cut score. Maryland was in the 20th percentile of all men's basketball programs nationally. Three seniors in the men's basketball program in 2007-08, two of whom are on athletics aid, are on track to graduate.

Maryland's football multiyear rate was 943. The football team was in the 60th percentile within Division I football teams, and Maryland's rate was well above the Division I public institution average, which was at the cut score of 925.

APR FACTS

RATE CALCULATION

The APR is computed by assigning eligibility (1 point) and continuing as a full-time student or graduating (1 point) to each student-athlete on athletics aid for each academic term. The squad APR is the total number of points earned divided by the maximum number of points possible. The APR number is then multiplied by 1,000 for ease of reference.

For example, if the team calculation is determined to be .925, the APR would be 925. APR is based on a term-by-term measurement and is now based on a four-year rolling average.

Basically, points are earned based on the answers to two questions: a) Is a student-athlete eligible for the next term or did they graduate? (1 point); b) Is the student-athlete returning? (1 point)

Teams lose points if student-athletes leave early to turn pro, transfer, drop out or dip below the minimum GPA to remain eligible.

Teams receive bonus points if student-athletes who have left school return at a later time to earn their degree.

THE SYSTEM

Teams with a multi-year APR score below 925 were subject to contemporaneous penalties starting in Fall 2006. The figures released today are the first figures with four-year rates (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07). In future years, the NCAA will calculate APR rates based on the most recent four years of data.

Once subject to such a penalty (APR plus squad-size adjustment is below 925), the maximum team financial aid limit will be reduced by the value of total countable aid awarded to the specific student-athletes who did not earn eligibility and were not retained the following semester.

Contemporaneous penalties that can be assessed to one team in one year are subject to a 10 percent maximum of the respective team's NCAA financial-aid limit. Over time, the contemporaneous penalty structure has been supplemented with a historical structure, designed to be more punitive in nature.

Historical penalties will be in addition to contemporaneous penalties and are designed to punish habitual offenders. Historical penalties may include postseason bans, scholarship losses, etc. They will be based on four-year rolling averages.

Squad-size adjustments will be eliminated when the fourth year of APR data is collected, provided the team's cohort includes 30 or more student-athletes.

MARYLAND'S ACADEMIC INITIATIVES

Over the last decade, the University of Maryland Athletics Department has placed a significant priority on upgrading its Academic Support and Career Development Unit (ASCDU) for student-athletes.

With an annual budget of more than $1.3 million, the unit includes 15 full-time staff members and two interns. The unit employs over 85 tutors in a wide variety of disciplines, and over 9,000 tutorial sessions were conducted in the 2006-07 academic year for student-athletes on all 27 Maryland varsity teams.

These initiatives are designed to help student-athletes graduate at levels comparable to those of the general undergraduate population.

In Fall 2007, Maryland posted an institutional Graduation Success Rate of 78 percent, an improvement of two points over the previous two years. Maryland's single-year federal graduation rate was 69 percent for the 2000-01 cohort, the sixth straight year that number was better than 65 percent.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Q. What is the difference between this system and tracking of graduation rates?

Academic Progress Rate is meant to be a real-time snapshot of a program's success in terms of student-athlete retention and eligibility. Graduation rates are six-year compilations of those student-athletes in a particular freshman class who receive athletics aid upon entering the institution and who graduate within that six-year window.

The NCAA has developed a new graduation-rate formula - the Graduation Success Rate or GSR. This new graduation-rate index is meant to give a more accurate look at an institution's success rate by taking into account those student-athletes who transfer in or out of an institution, as opposed to the federal rate calculations in which transfers count against the institution.

The APR and graduation-rate formulas also handle transfers differently. Student-athletes who transfer from a school count against a team's federal graduation rate, even if they were in good standing at the time of their transfer or if they eventually earn a degree. The APR gives credit for those student-athletes who were eligible or in good academic standing at the time of their transfer.

Q. Has this changed how Maryland will monitor academic progress and retention of student-athletes?

The athletics department will continue our long-standing commitment of providing support to our student-athletes. The registrar's office tracks academic outcomes for student-athletes and the results are reviewed by the university's Faculty Athletics Representative and the university's Athletic Council, a group of faculty and staff.

MARYLAND'S MULTIYEAR APR SCORES

Maryland D-1 Avg. Sport Team APR Public Inst.

Baseball 968 928 Men's Basketball * 906 918 Men's Cross Country 963 955 Football 943 925 Men's Golf 961 955 Men's Lacrosse 975 967 Men's Soccer 971 944 Men's Swimming & Diving 954 960 Men's Tennis 942 954 Men's Indoor Track & Field 971 942 Men's Outdoor Track & Field 971 941 Wrestling 929 934

Women's Basketball 966 954 Women's Cross Country 997 966 Field Hockey 993 980 Women's Golf 985 971 Women's Gymnastics # 1,000 980 Women's Lacrosse 995 980 Women's Soccer 977 965 Softball 972 959 Women's Swimming & Diving 971 975 Women's Tennis 977 967 Women's Indoor Track & Field # 991 957 Women's Outdoor Track & Field 991 958 Women's Volleyball 975 965 Women's Water Polo 990 955

* - not subject to contemporaneous penalties as 0-for-2 student-athletes have exhausted eligibility
# - received public recognition from NCAA for being in top 10 percent of programs nationally