In recent years, the NCAA has emphasized the importance of the Academic Progress Rate, imposing tougher goals and enforcing stricter penalties on programs that fail to meet them. The 22 teams from the University of Kentucky Athletics Department have responded.Once again, UK’s programs exceeded the four-year NCAA cut score of 900 (which will escalate to 930 over the next few years), ensuring that each remains eligible for postseason play. UK teams combined for an average four-year APR of 975.3, more than two points better than the NCAA average of 973. To take it a step further, 15 of UK’s 22 teams exceeded the national average in their respective sports.”With the increase of the cut score, achieving the APR has become even more challenging,” Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said in a release. “Our coaches and support personnel have done well in adjusting to the requirements and I’m proud of our student-athletes for their work in posting strong scores.”Leading the way was men’s golf, which earned a perfect APR of 1000. Following behind closely were women’s cross country (994), men’s cross country (993), women’s golf (993) and women’s tennis (992). Also exceeding the national average for their sports were men’s basketball (963), football (951), baseball (975), women’s basketball (970), softball (984), men’s tennis (987), women’s indoor track (984), women’s outdoor track (986), volleyball (990) and rifle (982).Not only did UK teams compare favorably to their counterparts at other institutions, but they also showed improvement. Sixteen of UK’s 22 teams had better four-year scores than in 2004-05, including baseball, which is up 77 points over that time frame.The men’s basketball team, fresh off a national championship, also continued to show significant progress. Its score of 963 is 41 points better than 2004-05 and stands to improve even more. In each of John Calipari’s two seasons as head coach, UK’s single-season APR has been 979, including in 2010-11, the last year included. The 2011-12 academic year will be reflected in the APR release next summer, which bodes well given that the combined team grade-point average for the spring semester was 3.12.See below for four-year APR information by sport and a comparison to UK’s 2004-05 totals and national averages: