Nebraska Teams Make Improvements in NCAA APR Report

The majority of Nebraska athletic teams saw improvement in the newest Academic Progress Report rates announced by the NCAA on Wednesday. In addition Nebraska does not face any contemporaneous penalties as a result of the APR Report.

The APR rate is based on the eligibility and retention of student-athletes and is designed to reward teams that perform well in those two areas and penalize those teams that do not make academic progress. This is the second year the NCAA has released APR rates and this year’s figures include two years of data. Beginning in 2008, the APR data will always include the previous four years of data.

This year is the first time contemporaneous penalties have been assessed as part of the APR process. Teams that scored lower than a 925 or teams whose score did not meet the APR standard after the squad size adjustment were subject to penalties if they had a student-athlete counted as an 0-for-2. An 0-for-2 student-athlete means that a student-athlete did not remain at the university and was not eligible when they departed.

Of Nebraska’s teams included in the APR figures, 18 of the 21 teams either improved their APR score from last season or remained the same. Among the teams making improvements of 25 points or more were baseball (869 to 924), men’s basketball (946 to 971), men’s gymnastics (925 to 964), wrestling (893 to 921), women’s golf (938 to 970), women’s swimming (911 to 948) and rifle (941 to 970).

“We are pleased that the majority of our teams improved their APR numbers from a year ago, and we still have work to do in some areas,” Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson said. “Our coaches continue to become better educated on all aspects of the APR and know that it is a key component in managing their respective programs.”

Nebraska has scored well in other academic reports released in recent weeks by the NCAA. Nebraska leads the Big 12 in exhausted eligibility rates at 93 percent, while continuing to lead the nation in Academic All-Americans across all sports with 226. Last fall, four Husker underclassmen earned first-team Academic All-America honors.

Sport

2003-04 APR

MultiYear APR

Baseball

869

924+

Men's Basketball

946

971

Football

929

932

Men's Golf

975

921+

Men's Gymnastics

925

964

Men's Tennis

900+

921+

Men's Track, Indoor

907+

928

Men's Track, Outdoor

907+

928

Men's Wrestling

893+

921+

Women's Basketball

957

969

Women's Bowling

982

979

Women's Golf

938

970

Women's Gymnastics

981

981

Women's Soccer

937

952

Women's Softball

962

968

Women's Swimming

911+

948

Women's Tennis

972

974

Women's Track, Indoor

926

937

Women's Track, Outdoor

926

937

Women's Volleyball

1000

982

Mixed Rifle

941

970

Note: Multi-Year APR is the new number released in 2006.
+ Denotes APR that does not subject the team to contemporaneous penalties due to the squad-size adjustment.  The squad-size adjustment will be eliminated when the fourth year of APR data is collected, provided the team’s multiyear cohort includes 30 or more student-athletes.