Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Athletics Ranks Among Nation's Best with 17 NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards
4/22/2009 8:00:00 AM | General
April 22, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The NCAA unveiled its third annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards on Wednesday, and for the third straight year Bucknell ranks among the national leaders in number of programs honored. A total of 17 Bison varsity athletics programs were cited for having APR scores among the top 10 percent in their respective sports. That figure ranks first in the Patriot League, seventh in the nation, and fifth in the nation based on percentage of sports offered by the institution.
According to the NCAA, the APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 976 to a perfect 1,000.
Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving Public Recognition Awards, will be announced May 6.
For the third straight year, 17 Bucknell varsity athletics programs received Public Recognition Awards. The honored sports are baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, wrestling, women's rowing, field hockey, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving, women's indoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field and women's water polo.
Bucknell's 17 honored teams represent 63.0 percent of the school's varsity offerings, the fifth-highest total in the nation. Only Yale (28 of 29, 95.6%), Dartmouth (21 of 27, 77.8%), Brown (21 of 31, 67.7%) and Penn (19 of 29, 65.5%) had a higher percentage of their APR-tracked programs honored by the NCAA.
In terms of total number of honored programs, Bucknell ranked seventh, behind only Yale (28), Dartmouth (21), Brown (21), Penn (19), Princeton (18) and Harvard (18). Among other Patriot League institutions, Holy Cross had 14 programs cited, Lehigh and Lafayette both had 13, Colgate 12, Navy 11, Army three and American two.
This year a total of 767 Division I programs received Public Recognition Awards, or 11.9 percent of the approximately 6,484 Division I teams. The list includes 448 women's teams and 319 men's or mixed squads. A total of 205 institutions, out of 331 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list. Another six schools that offer athletics in more than one division, out of 50 overall that do so within the NCAA, placed Division I teams on the list as well.
By conference, the Ivy Group had the most number of teams honored (144), followed by the Patriot League (85) and the Big East Conference (60).
This recognition represents a continuation of widespread national acknowledgement of Bucknell's scholar-athlete success. Bucknell annually ranks among the national leaders in graduation rates, and the Bison rank fifth nationally in total number of Academic All-Americans.
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 four-year average based on institutional reporting for the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years. Teams that do not meet a baseline score of 925 could face sanctions such as loss of scholarships.
In last year's APR report, every Bison program received a score of at least 960, and 22 scored 980 or better. Thirteen programs still have a cumulative 1,000 score.
Bucknell is a highly-selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of 3,583 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 14 of 18 years, including 10 of the last 11.
