Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Student-Athletes Ace NCAA APR Test
6/11/2013 8:00:00 AM | General
June 11, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. -Last week Bucknell Athletics received a program-record 19 NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) National Recognition Awards, the third-highest total among all Division I institutions. On Tuesday the NCAA followed up with the release of team-by-team APR data, and once again this year all 27 Bison squads surpassed the NCAA's standards with flying colors.
The APR is a formula created 10 years ago that is used to track student-athlete eligibility and retention. As it has every year, Bucknell graded very well in the APR report, with all 27 programs easily meeting the 925-point cutoff. Scores under 925 could result in certain NCAA-imposed penalties, including loss of scholarships and ineligibility for postseason play.
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 latest APR data represents a four-year average for the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years. The NCAA evaluates programs based on a four-year rolling average.
Bucknell reported APR data in all 27 varsity programs, and 19 of those teams have perfect 1,000 scores in the four-year average. Those programs are men's basketball, baseball, field hockey, men's and women's cross country, women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, men's water polo and volleyball. Every Bison program received a score of at least 963.
The national average for all sports is 974, up one point from last year's report.
Bucknell annually ranks among the national leaders in graduation rates, and it ranks fifth among all Division I programs in total number of Academic All-Americans with 123.
Bucknell is a highly-selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of approximately 3,500 undergraduate students. Bucknell competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Patriot League and has full membership along with American, Army, Boston University, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola University Maryland and Navy. Bucknell has won the Presidents' Cup, signifying the Patriot League's all-sports champion, in 18 of 23 years, including 14 of the last 16.
