Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Athletics Ranks Third Nationally with Program-Record 19 NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards
6/5/2013 8:00:00 AM | General
June 5, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell Athletics has received a program-record 19 Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards, the NCAA announced today, and that is the third-highest total among the 346 Division I programs, trailing only Dartmouth (25) and Brown (20). Bucknell has ranked among the national leaders in Public Recognition Awards in all eight years since the NCAA began honoring programs that rank in the top 10 percent in APR scores within their respective sports.
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 this year posted APR scores ranging from 978 to a perfect 1,000.
Specific multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving Public Recognition Awards, will be announced on June 11.
Bucknell has earned at least 16 Public Recognition Awards every year so far. The previous high was 18 in 2010. Bison programs honored this year are: baseball, men's basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, 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 outdoor track and field, volleyball and men's water polo.
This year a total of 976 Division I programs received Public Recognition Awards, including 594 women's teams and 382 men's or mixed squads. A total of 268 institutions, out of 346 Division I colleges and universities, placed at least one team on the top APR list.
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 among all Division I programs 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 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 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 969, 15 programs had a cumulative 1,000 score, and all 27 were above the national average.
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, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh 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.
