UK's 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 goal score. Sixteen of the 20 UK team scores exceeded the national average for public universities in their sports.

Kentucky’s women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, gymnastics, softball, women’s tennis and volleyball teams led the way with perfect 1,000 marks over the previous four years. Having seven teams notch perfect scores over a four-year period is just one shy of the school record of eight set a year ago.

The APR marks are a four-year composite, covering the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 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 on track to earn a degree and one point for staying in school or graduating.

The NCAA goal score is a 930 four-year APR. Teams scoring below 930 can face consequences, such as practice restrictions, playing-season reductions or disqualification from postseason, to direct more focus on academics.

Another highlight was that 14 UK teams notched perfect 1,000 scores for 2023-24, the most recent school year in the report: the seven teams mentioned above, along with baseball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s golf, women’s swimming, men’s tennis, and men’s track & field.  With all teams combined, UK Athletics posted an overall score of 996 for the previous year.

With each team exceeding the NCAA goal score, no Wildcat squads are subject to penalties. None of UK’s teams have incurred a penalty during the 21-year history of the APR.

Tuesday’s news is a continuation of the academic accomplishments of UK student-athletes:

• Spring graduation this week will mark yet another milestone of academic success as UK Athletics anticipates a total of 153 graduates during the 2024-25 school year, including the December commencement.
• The 2024 fall semester was the 25th straight for UK Athletics with a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average.
• 50 Wildcats were named recently to the 2024-25 Winter Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for having a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or a cumulative 3.0 GPA.
• In the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report, UK tied the school record of 92 percent, two points above the national average of 90 percent.