APR: The NCAA’s Academic Law

The Academic Progress Rate (APR) can be defined, in basic terms, as a team-based formula developed by the NCAA in order to track the academic eligibility, retention, and achievements of Division I member institutions’ athletic teams during each academic term. A roadmap to calculate APR is provided by the NCAA:  “Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one retention point for staying in school and one eligibility point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by one thousand to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate score.”  Essentially, if a student-athlete fails to meet these standards then the individual will not receive the allotted points. A perfect team score is 1000, while the point tally to face sanctions is a score of 930.

Though Academic Progress Rate is designed to be the ideal regulating system for Division I athletics, animosity comes from critics and coaches who are quick to point out that the NCAA is solely an athletic association and should stay on that course. APR ramifications pack a punch, but they hit hardest at universities of limited resources who simply lag behind in effective academic support for their student-athletes. Universities have been forced to become accountable for not only the athletic successes of their departments, but their athletes’ personal well-being via the academic realm as well. In a perfect world, APR should lead to higher graduation rates and aid student-athletes in a proficient transition into the professional world. In the athletic domain, which NCAA was designed for, APR has made it hard for collegiate athletic departments to find an equal balance between athletics and academics.

It is undeniable that the Academic Progress Rate has increased the academic success at the Division I level. However, should an athletic association hold the responsibility of setting academic standards over institutions founded on the sanctity of higher education and the continual pursuit of academic achievement?