UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State student-athletes continue to make better progress toward graduation in comparison with the nation’s Division I institutions, according to data released Wednesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Four Penn State squads earned perfect multi-year APR scores of 1,000 — Field hockey, women’s cross country, women’s golf and women’s tennis. The average multi-year APR score for Penn State’s 29 varsity teams is 983, well above the Division I average of 973, according to the NCAA.
The NCAA released data from the 2010-11 academic year as the eighth set of results in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), a formula introduced as part of the Division I Academic Performance Program. The NCAA released sport specific data for 2010-11 to each institution, as well as the most recent four years of collected data that is used to determine a rolling four-year (multi-year) APR score for all athletic teams.
“Penn State student-athletes continue to make us proud with their achievement in the classroom,” said Penn State President Rodney Erickson.
Highlights of Penn State’s Academic Progress Report for 2010-11:
• Among Penn State’s 29 varsity teams (31 as of 2012- 13), 24 have a four-year APR score at or above the NCAA Division I average for all sports.
• Twenty-three of 29 teams have a score equal to or above the NCAA
Division I average for their respective sport.
• Twenty-eight of 29 Penn State teams have an APR score of 965 or higher (40 points above the
NCAA’s 925 figure for possible contemporaneous penalties). The NCAA champion wrestling team is the lone Penn State team below the 965 mark with a score of 935.
• The Penn State football team earned an APR score of 971, 23 points higher than the Division I football average of 948.
• The Nittany Lion basketball team earned an APR score of 980, 30 points higher than the Division I men’s basketball average of 950.
• The Lady Lion basketball team earned an APR score of 985, 15 points higher than the Division I women’s basketball average of 970.
Penn State’s only team below the 965 mark is its lone national champion this season. The Nittany Lion wrestling team had a score of 935, which was last among Big Ten schools in wrestling.
