A total of 189 sports teams among the 21 league-sponsored sports in the A-10 earned a rating at or above the national average.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Atlantic 10 Conference ranked among the nation’s best based on the most recent Division I Academic Progress Rate released by the NCAA on Tuesday, May 24.
A total of 189 sports teams among the 21 league-sponsored sports in the A-10 earned a rating at or above the national average, including 32 teams that recorded a perfect score. According to the most recent figures, the latest four-year Division I Academic Progress Rate is 970, up three points over last year.
Four league-sponsored sports in the A-10, including field hockey, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer and women’s swimming and diving, had every participating team record an APR at or above the national average. In looking at the conference as a whole, 79.1% of the teams competing in the A-10 maintained an APR of 970 or better.
This report is based on NCAA Division I APR data submitted by each institution for the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years.
The A-10 achieved the ninth highest overall APR out of 31 Division I conferences. Fourteen of the 21 league-sponsored sports ranked in the top 5 nationally including baseball, field hockey, men’s tennis, men’s indoor track and field, women’s rowing, women’s swimming and diving, women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s outdoor track and field. In addition, men’s indoor track and field and women’s swimming and diving earned a top three rating, the highest mark achieved in the league this past year.
Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year based on the eligibility and retention of each scholarship student-athlete. The Academic Progress Rate is a real-time measure of eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team, which has been shown to predict later graduation success. Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face penalties, such as scholarship losses and restrictions on practice and competition. Rates are based on the past four years’ performance.
Recently, a total of 909 teams competing at the Division I level were honored for their high marks academically, as the Public Recognition Awards are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their APRs.
Of the 335 Division I colleges and universities, 239 institutions placed at least one team on the top APR list including 12 schools from the A-10. Eleven of those 12 schools from the A-10 had multiple teams garner distinction, while all 21 league-sponsored sports were represented by at least one program.
Among the 31 Division I conferences, the Atlantic 10 Conference ranked fifth behind the Ivy Group (135), the Patriot League (82), the Big East Conference (77) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (61).
Seventeen A-10 student-athletes earned Academic All-America honors during the 2009-10 season, while 1,199 student-athletes were named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll in the Fall of 2009 and 1,180 were recognized on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for their work in the classroom during the Spring of 2010. To be listed on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, a student-athlete in an Atlantic 10-sponsored sport must have a 3.5 GPA or better (on a 4.0 scale) during the specified semester.
APR scores per institution, along with penalties per school and teams receiving public recognition, are available online at www.ncaa.org.
About the A-10
The Atlantic 10 Conference was formed in 1976 and celebrates its 35th anniversary as a Division I Conference in 2010-11. Currently comprised of 14 member institutions and sponsoring 21 championship sports, the mission and goal of the Atlantic 10 is to preserve, protect, and enhance the academic and athletic pursuits of the membership. The conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for more than 6,000 student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The member institutions of the Atlantic 10 are the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph’s University, Saint Louis University, Temple University, and Xavier University.
Leave a Reply