NCAA Releases Academic Progress Rates, Will Be Brought Up In About Six Years

Academic standing has always been a point of importance for Maryland media, if not their fans. You know what I'm talking about; not long ago, not a week would go by without some paper or outlet claiming that Maryland had an awful graduation rate or APR standing. Of course, most of the data cited is from 2000-2002, which means it's ultimately useless, but that's never stopped some people whom shall remain nameless.

So getting newer, updated, relevant data is always welcome. That's just what we got yesterday when the NCAA released their updated Academic Progress Rates, better known as APR. APR goes back to the last four years and judges the eligibility and retention of each team's student-athletes.

The Terps have recently been on the low end of the scales, despite (or because of) their more stringent standards, stemming from the Len Bias tragedy and its aftermath. Chris McCray didn't help matters (actually, that entire class was a bust). There is good news, though: McCray and his class come off the board next year, and this year's graduating class - Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, Jerome Burney, and Landon Milbourne - stays on. Good things on the horizon.

What you'll be most interested in is probably basketball, which is where Maryland catches most of its flak. The overall, four-year score is hardly flattering (913) and good for second to last in the conference, but it was 962 last year. That would be good enough for a mid-table finish in the conference, around 8th. More importantly, it's well out of the danger area of probation or penalties.

Football is also pretty low in the four-year score, surprisingly, and actually dropped over the past year, if only by 4 points. Again, still above 925, but not by much (oh, and still ahead of FSU: shocker!). Lamar Young and Dion Armstrong are the last two academic casualties, but there shouldn't be a big problem in the future unless that sort of thing becomes rampant.

For more on Maryland's scores, check out the NCAA's Maryland report. Also, feel free to find scores in other sports and other teams byy using the NCAA APR Database.

I eagerly await seeing these statistics in 2018 when the APR cut-off rate has raised to 960 and a politician is trying to block a Congressional congratulations.