The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) on Wednesday afternoon, and once again, Tennessee received an impressive score.
Tennessee describes the APR each academic year as a “report card” to measure academic progress.
“Scholarship student-athletes each semester earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating,” Tennessee described in a press release. “Data released for this multi-year cohort includes scores from the 2017-18, 2016-17, 2015-16 and 2014-15 academic years. For APR purposes, scores for indoor and outdoor track & field are computed together, so Tennessee has 18 teams/sports that are scored.”
According to the NCAA and Tennessee, 13 Tennessee programs earned a perfect 1,000 single-year APR score for the 2017-18 academic year. Those teams are men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s cross country, rowing, women’s golf, softball, soccer, women’s swimming & diving, women’s tennis, women’s track & field, and volleyball.
As for the football team, Jeremy Pruitt’s club posted a multi-year APR score of 971 – one point behind a program-high of 972 set in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
On the basketball court, Rick Barnes’ program posted its highest single-season APR in the last five years with a score of 981.
While Tennessee softball posted a perfect score, the other team on campus that plays on the diamond – Tennessee baseball – posted its highest multi-year APR in program history with a score of 981. It’s the program’s fifth straight year in which the APR increased from the previous year’s mark. Last year, the baseball program had an APR of 979.
“I’m pleased to see so many of our teams performing well academically, with several showing continued improvement,” Tennessee Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer stated in Tennessee’s press release. “I’m very proud of the effort our student-athletes have put forth in the classroom as well as the great work being done by our staff at the Thornton Center. We’ve had a lot to be proud of across the board this year.”
In the multi-year data, 14 programs tied or improved their scores from last year’s mark. Those programs are baseball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, rowing, women’s golf, softball, soccer, women’s swimming & diving, women’s tennis, women’s track & field. and volleyball.
75 student-athletes are taking place in spring commencement ceremonies this week.
