Eight Programs Receive NCAA APR Recognition
5/6/2025 3:57:00 PM | Baseball, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Men's Track & Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Tennis, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball
Top 10% in latest Academic Progress Report
The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) data for all member institutions on Tuesday, and eight of Rice's 14 intercollegiate teams received Public Recognition Awards for ranking in the top 10% of their respective sports.
Rice's women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, golf, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's track & field, and volleyball were recognized for having APR scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports in the NCAA's 2023-24 Academic Progress Reports for a four-year period beginning in 2020-21.
Seven of those eight sports (women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, golf, men's tennis, women's tennis, and volleyball) posted perfect scores of 1,000 in the four-year data, and were joined by baseball, men's basketball, men's track & field and women's track & field in posting a perfect score in the single-year tabulations.
The women's cross country program has received a perfect score in each of the 21 years the NCAA has released information, while women's tennis extended its streak to 17 years, followed by volleyball (14 years) and men's cross country (13 years).
The eight public recognition awards are the most for any school in the American Athletic Conference, followed by South Florida (6), Memphis, Temple, and Tulane (5), North Texas (4), East Carolina and Florida Atlantic (3), Charlotte and UTSA (2) and Tulsa and Wichita State (1). Rice's 2024 women's basketball team was one of three AAC champions from 2023-24 to post a perfect score in the 2023-24 single-year data, joining South Florida men's golf and affiliate member FIU in women's swimming.
Each academic year, every Division I sports team's APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and 1 point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term. For schools that do not offer athletics scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
This is the fourth consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Division I board approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties. Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition were originally scheduled to resume in spring 2024, but the Division I Committee on Academics decided not to enforce the loss of access to postseason competition for teams that scored lower than 930 last year, instead offering a conditional waiver due to lingering impacts of the pandemic.
However, normal operations are being enforced this year for teams scoring below the 930 benchmark, with strategic penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics.
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Rice's women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, golf, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's track & field, and volleyball were recognized for having APR scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports in the NCAA's 2023-24 Academic Progress Reports for a four-year period beginning in 2020-21.
Seven of those eight sports (women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, golf, men's tennis, women's tennis, and volleyball) posted perfect scores of 1,000 in the four-year data, and were joined by baseball, men's basketball, men's track & field and women's track & field in posting a perfect score in the single-year tabulations.
The women's cross country program has received a perfect score in each of the 21 years the NCAA has released information, while women's tennis extended its streak to 17 years, followed by volleyball (14 years) and men's cross country (13 years).
The eight public recognition awards are the most for any school in the American Athletic Conference, followed by South Florida (6), Memphis, Temple, and Tulane (5), North Texas (4), East Carolina and Florida Atlantic (3), Charlotte and UTSA (2) and Tulsa and Wichita State (1). Rice's 2024 women's basketball team was one of three AAC champions from 2023-24 to post a perfect score in the 2023-24 single-year data, joining South Florida men's golf and affiliate member FIU in women's swimming.
Each academic year, every Division I sports team's APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and 1 point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term. For schools that do not offer athletics scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
This is the fourth consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Division I board approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties. Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition were originally scheduled to resume in spring 2024, but the Division I Committee on Academics decided not to enforce the loss of access to postseason competition for teams that scored lower than 930 last year, instead offering a conditional waiver due to lingering impacts of the pandemic.
However, normal operations are being enforced this year for teams scoring below the 930 benchmark, with strategic penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics.
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