NCAA Academic Progress Rates Released

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The NCAA released its Academic Progress Rate report Tuesday, showing that all University of Kentucky sports teams surpassed the NCAA cut score. Sixteen of the 20 UK team scores exceeded the national average for public universities in their sports.
 
The APR marks are a four-year composite, covering the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, taking a real-time look at academic success of scholarship student-athletes. The APR measures academic eligibility, retention and graduation.
 
Every Division I sports team across the nation calculates its APR each academic year, similar to a report card. Each semester, scholarship athletes earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating.
 
The women’s basketball, women’s golf, gymnastics, rifle, women’s soccer, men’s tennis and volleyball teams led the way for UK with perfect 1,000 marks over the previous four years.
 
Usually, the NCAA cut score to compete in the postseason is a 930 four-year APR; however, because of the issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, no penalties are being assessed this year. Teams scoring below 930 could have faced additional consequences, such as practice restrictions or playing-season reductions, to direct more focus on academics. Regardless, with each UK team exceeding the NCAA cut score, no Wildcat squads are subject to penalties. None of UK’s teams have incurred a penalty during the 18-year history of the APR.
 
Another highlight was that 11 UK teams notched perfect 1,000 scores for 2020-21, the most recent school year in the report: women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s golf, gymnastics, rifle, women’s soccer, softball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and volleyball.
 
“We are pleased to have another strong set of APR scores,” said Mitch Barnhart, UK Director of Athletics. “The year-by-year success is the foundation of our goal of graduating our student-athletes.”
 
Tuesday’s news is a continuation of the academic accomplishments of UK student-athletes:

• In November, it was announced that UK student-athletes broke the school record for Federal Graduation Rate and tied the school record in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate. UK has broken or tied the GSR school record every year since the NCAA began measuring that statistic in 2005.
• UK athletes have posted an overall grade-point average over 3.0 in 20 consecutive semesters.
• Including the December 2021 commencement and last month’s spring graduation, 135 Wildcat student-athletes earned degrees or certifications during the 2021-22 school year.