Razorbacks Exceed APR Benchmark

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Arkansas exceeds the benchmark Academic Progress Rate (APR) multiyear rate of 930 in all 19 of its intercollegiate sport programs.

Arkansas’ 19 programs averaged a rate of 973.2, marking the fifth straight year the program average has exceeded 970. All 19 programs eclipsed the benchmark by at least 14 points with 15 of the 19 besting the 930 benchmark by 20 points or more.

Last week, the Razorback women’s golf program earned a NCAA Public Recognition Award for ranking among the top 10 percent of women’s golf teams nationally. The program scored a perfect 1,000 multiyear rate. It was the seventh NCAA Public Recognition Award earned by women’s golf. The University of Arkansas has now earned a total of 12 public recognition awards in the past four years. Other top scoring programs include women’s gymnastics (995), women’s volleyball (995), men’s tennis (994) and women’s swimming and diving (993).

“Our APR performance continues to reflect the progress we have made academically and our continued focus on graduation,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. “All 19 of our programs are well above the APR benchmark. Several programs, including football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, have made significant improvements on their multiyear rates in just the last few years. That is a credit to our coaches, our Office of Student-Athlete Success staff, but most of all to the young men and women who are committed to their own personal development athletically, academically and socially. We will continue to work each and every day to provide our student-athletes with the resources and, most importantly, the opportunities for them to succeed in all aspects of their student-athlete experience.”

Football made a 14-point gain in its multiyear APR to earn a 952 in the most current listing. It is the highest multiyear rate recorded by the football program since APR was implemented and eclipsed the previous record (938) set in 2011-12 and matched in 2013-14. Earlier this year, football led all SEC schools and set a program record with 40 members on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. Arkansas also led the league in overall academic honor roll selections in SEC sponsored sports with 90 student-athletes.

In addition to football, women’s basketball (+24) and softball (+14) also saw double-digit point improvements in APR multiyear rates. Women’s basketball posted back-to-back perfect 1,000 single-year rates for the first time in program history.

Men’s basketball exceeded the benchmark for the fourth consecutive year and posted its second-best multiyear rate ever (954). In the past six years, the men’s basketball multiyear rate has improved by 68 points.

In 2015-16, a total of 102 Razorback student-athletes graduated in the fall or are on target to be eligible to participate in commencement ceremonies this spring. Razorbacks Athletics has averaged 100 graduates per year in each of the past two years.

Last fall, Razorback student-athletes combined to record a program-record cumulative GPA of 3.25.

The APR is based on academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes in each athletic program. This report’s multiyear scores are based on the 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years.

University of Arkansas APR Superlatives

• Fourth time since APR established and third consecutive year that all 19 sport programs exceeded benchmark of 930
• All 19 programs exceed benchmark by at least 14 points (944) with 15 programs exceeding the benchmark by 20 points (950) or more.
• Fifth-consecutive year the program multiyear average exceeded 970 (973.2 – 2014-15)
• Women’s golf earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award for ranking in top 10 percent of women’s golf programs nationally. The team posted a perfect 1,000 multiyear APR rate.
• Arkansas has now earned a total of 12 Public Recognition Awards during the past four years.
• Razorback Athletics posted a single-year average rate of 976.8 for all 19 programs.
• Eight of Arkansas’ 19 programs recorded a perfect 1,000 single-year APR rate (women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, gymnastics, softball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and volleyball).
• Men’s basketball has improved its APR 73 points in the past five years. The most recent 959 multiyear rate is a program best.
• Total of 102 Razorback student-athletes have graduated or on target to participate in commencement ceremonies in 2015-16.
• Razorback student-athletes combined to record a program-record cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.25 in the fall 2015 semester.
• The University of Arkansas led all league schools with 90 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll selections within officially sanctioned conference sports.

For more information regarding Razorback Athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.