Bucknell University Athletics
Seventeen Bucknell Varsity Programs Receive NCAA Public APR Recognition
4/30/2007 8:00:00 AM | General
April 30, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Later this week the NCAA will release its third annual set of Academic Performance Rate (APR) data, but it has preliminarily announced that 17 Bucknell varsity athletics programs - the fifth-highest total in the nation by percentage of sports offered -- are recipients of NCAA Public Recognition Awards, which are bestowed upon teams that place in the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sport. The recognition is a continuation of widespread national acknowledgement of Bucknell's scholar-athlete success. In November The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Bison Athletics had the nation's highest four-year graduation rate, and Bucknell continues to rank fourth nationally in total number of Academic All-Americans.
The Bison football, men's basketball, baseball, women's rowing, women's lacrosse, women's swimming and diving, women's water polo, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis and women's indoor and outdoor track and field teams were all cited for national recognition by the NCAA.
The 17 honored teams represent 65.3 percent of Bucknell's varsity athletics program. That is the highest percentage among schools competing in the Patriot League, and the fifth-highest percentage among all Division I programs, trailing only Yale (93.3 percent; 28/30 teams), Dartmouth (82.7 percent, 24/29 teams), Rice (68.7 percent, 11/16 teams) and Brown (68.5 percent, 24/35 teams). The Patriot League itself ranked second among all Division I conferences with a total of 92 teams receiving awards.
Under the APR system, a student-athlete can be awarded two points per semester - one for remaining academically eligible throughout the semester and another for being retained for the next term. Team percentages are then calculated to determine its APR. The upcoming APR report will represent a three-year average based on institutional reporting for the 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years; ultimately the NCAA will evaluate programs based on a four-year rolling average. Teams that do not meet a baseline score of 925 could face sanctions such as loss of scholarships.
Most of Bucknell's 27 varsity programs are expected to have a perfect score of 1,000, and every Bison program should easily meet the 925 minimum when the new APR report is made public on May 2.
"For Bucknell to be in such elite company with 17 varsity programs recognized nationally for academic progress is another indication of the drive and focus of our Bison student-athletes, who take great pride both in excelling academically and in winning championships," said Brian Mitchell, Bucknell's 16th president. "We appreciate the NCAA recognizing this sort of comprehensive achievement. Academic performance metrics such as graduation success rates and the new APR study are objective measures of a scholar-athlete ideal, so the fact that the NCAA Bucknell continues to rank us among the best in the nation provides wonderful confirmation that Bucknell is indeed succeeding in the right way."
"Bucknell's success in the NCAA's APR reporting affirms the university's mission of a symbiotic relationship between athletics and academics," said John Hardt, director of athletics and recreation. "Bucknell annually produces scores of student-athletes who are recognized as Academic All-Americans, Patriot League Scholar-Athletes and Patriot League Academic Honor Roll members. It would not be possible without an ironclad relationship between our faculty, coaches and student-athletes. It is reassuring that the NCAA shares a similar focus."
According to the NCAA, the public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. The 839 teams receiving awards this year represent 217 Division I colleges and universities, or two-thirds of the 326 institutions that compete in NCAA Division I athletics. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 975 to a perfect 1,000, NCAA President Myles Brand in a press release.
"These teams prove once again that student-athletes are students first, and many of them are excellent students," Brand said. "I want to personally congratulate these teams and their student-athletes who are working hard in their sport and in the classroom and setting a great example for all students."
Bucknell is a highly-selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of approximately 3,350 undergraduate students. Bucknell competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Patriot League and has full membership along with American, Army, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy. Bucknell has won the Presidents' Cup, signifying the Patriot League's all-sports champion, in 12 of 16 years, including eight of the last nine years.
