BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech's athletics teams recorded strong academic numbers in the NCAA's latest Academic Progress Rate report, as released by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon.
The APR is a scorecard that tracks classroom performance of Division I sports teams, and it takes into account eligibility and retention of student-athletes over a four-year period. It measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in each sport. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason, and programs also can face penalties for continued low academic performance. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on annual scores from the 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years.
The Tech women's golf, women's tennis, women's track and field, and men's tennis teams all recorded perfect multi-year APRs of 1,000, which ranked either first or tied first in the ACC. The women's tennis program achieved a perfect score for the third consecutive year.
A week ago, each of these four programs received an NCAA Public Recognition Awards, which goes to sport programs that finished with APR scores in the top 10 of their respective sports.
In all, 12 Tech sport programs recorded a 990 multi-year score or better out of 1,000. The group included the four previously stated teams, plus women's soccer (997), men's track and field (997), softball (996), women's swimming and diving (996), women's cross country (995), volleyball (994), men's cross country (992), and men's swimming and diving (991).
In addition to the Tech sport programs who recorded perfect multi-year scores, several others also ranked near the top of the ACC. The softball program was tied for second among ACC schools and first among public institutions in the league. The men's track and field program came in tied for fifth among ACC schools and second among the league's public schools. Both the women's soccer and men's swimming and diving programs ranked in the top five in the ACC and third among the public schools in the league.
Also, 13 Tech sport programs recorded a perfect 1,000 for the 2017-18 academic year – up from nine programs a year ago. This contingent includes men's cross country, men's golf, men's swimming and diving, men's tennis, men's track and field, women's cross country, women's golf, softball, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving, women's tennis, women's track and field, and volleyball.
The football program recorded a multi-year rate of 953. It marked the ninth straight year in which the program has been above 950. The men's basketball program recorded a multi-year APR of 970 – its exact same score as last year. The Tech women's basketball program recorded a multi-year rate of 935, a five-point improvement from its score a year ago.
For more information on the APR, please check the NCAA website at www.ncaa.org.
