Eleven Maryland athletic programs earn perfect APR scores

The 2013-2014 APR scores were released on Wednesday, May 27th. The following is a press release from the University of Maryland Athletic Department regarding the school's latest APR scores:

COLLEGE PARK, Md.  - Twelve intercollegiate sport programs at the University of Maryland maintained or improved their multiyear APR scores in the newest 2013-2014 APP report as announced by the NCAA Wednesday while fifteen teams earned multiyear Academic Progress Rates (APR) at or above .970.

A record 11 sports programs led by baseball, men's golf, women's basketball, women's cross country, gymnastics, softball, women's soccer, tennis, women's track-indoor, women's track-outdoor, and volleyball earned perfect single year APR scores of 1,000 for the 2013-14 academic year. Sixteen of Maryland's 20 sports programs earned single-year APR scores of .970 or higher.

Football earned a multiyear score of .973 and single-year APR score of .991. Both marks are program-bests since the APR's inception in 2003. Football's multi-year score of .973 shows marked improvement from last year's score of .950. The football program has made significant strides since 2009-10 when the multiyear was .922, single year was .905, and the program was assessed a contemporaneous penalty losing three scholarships.

Women's basketball and men's basketball earned multiyear rates of .981 and .948, respectively. Women's basketball has earned perfect single-year APR score of 1,000 two years in a row as noted in the 2013-2014 APP report. Twenty of 22 men's basketball student-athletes, who have exhausted their eligibility, have graduated since the 2006-07 season.

"We are proud that we continue to make outstanding strides academically," Maryland director of athletics Kevin Anderson said. "It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes that a record number of 11 sports programs received perfect single year APR scores. Our commitment to academic excellence is paramount in helping our student-athletes build a foundation for a successful life after intercollegiate athletics."

The newly released multiyear APR scores are comprised of data submitted for 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. The APR index was developed by the NCAA to provide a "real time" snapshot on a semester-by-semester basis in order to measure the eligibility and retention of student-athletes in all Division I institutions. The APR is part of a larger package of initiatives, the NCAA Academic Performance Program, which was mandated by the NCAA Board of Directors to improve the academic performance of athletic teams.

In calculating the APR, all student-athletes receiving athletics financial aid are considered "counters" and each semester receive one point for retention/graduation and one point for meeting NCAA and University of Maryland eligibility standards for competition. The maximum number of APR points a student-athlete can earn in an academic year is four (2 in the fall semester and 2 in the spring semester). A team's APR is the total number of eligibility/retention 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.)