Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Athletics Strong Again In NCAA's APR Report
5/19/2020 1:00:00 PM | General, SASS
Eight of EMU's sports posted scores equal to or better than a year ago
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University Department of Athletics continues to thrive academically in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), as released by the NCAA today, May 19.
All of the Eagles' 18 sports had multi-year APR rates of 955 or above with the baseball, men's golf, women's cross country, women's golf, women's gymnastics, and volleyball teams posting perfect 1000 single-year rates in the latest report for the 2018-19 academic year. Additionally, five teams equaled or exceeded their best multi-year score since the APR began in 2004-05. All of EMU's teams were comfortably above the NCAA's minimum score of 930. Meanwhile, the men's golf, women's golf and volleyball programs at Eastern Michigan posted the highest APR scores in the Mid-American Conference, while football ranked second in the league.
"We prepare our student-athletes to achieve academic and athletic excellence," Vice President/Director of Athletics Scott Wetherbee said. "Consistent with our mission, we take great pride in how our student-athletes embody the highest standards of excellence in the classroom, on the field, and how they are engaged in the community. Our faculty, staff, coaches, and administration work tirelessly to assist our student-athletes in achieving their goals, including their academic and athletic endeavors."
In all, eight of EMU's sports posted multi-year scores equal to or better than a year ago. The largest increases came from the men's golf program (improving from 993 to 1000) and football (climbing from 970 to 976). Baseball (improving six points to 964) and soccer (climbing five points to 994) also made strong increases.
The football, men's golf, women's golf, women's soccer, and volleyball programs all posted their best multi-year rates ever. The Eastern Michigan men's golf, women's golf and volleyball squads were awarded public recognition a week ago for ranking among the top 10 percent of all Division I programs in their respective sport. It was the eighth straight year that volleyball has been honored, while it marked the fourth time in the last five seasons for women's golf. Additionally, men's golf made the list for the first-time since 2005-06 and the third time overall.
In total, five intercollegiate sport programs at the Eastern improved their single-year APR scores, while an additional four programs (men's golf, women's golf, women's gymnastics, and volleyball) maintained their single-year scores. Football improved from 972 to 987 for its highest single-year rate in program-history, while baseball saw a 67-point increase from 933 to 1000. Women's cross country moved from a 974 in 2017-18 to a 1,000 in 2018-19, rowing grew its single-year tally from 951 to 960, and women's track improved from 972 to 977.
Additionally, five of the Eagles' teams ranked in the top half of the Mid-American Conference.
The APR, created to provide more of a real-time measurement of academic success than graduation rates offer, is a team-based metric in which scholarship student-athletes earn 1 point each term for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating. Schools that don't offer scholarships track their recruited student-athletes.
Every Division I sports team submits data to have its Academic Progress Rate calculated each academic year. The NCAA reports both single-year and four-year rates, on which penalties for poor academic performance are based. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable, member-provided data. APRs for each team, lists of teams receiving public recognition and those receiving sanctions are available online through the NCAA's searchable database.
"The Committee on Academics commends Division I students engaged in intercollegiate athletics for their hard work and depth of commitment to success in both academic and athletic pursuits," said John J. DeGioia, chair of the Division I Committee on Academic. "The strong academic standards provided by the Academic Performance Program have led to thousands of students graduating and gaining access to the lifelong benefits of a college education. We are proud of them for their accomplishments and Division I member institutions for their dedication to a common framework for sustained student achievement."
Since the Division I membership created the Academic Performance Program 15 years ago, more than 18,750 former student-athletes have earned APR points for their prior teams by returning to college and earning a degree after their eligibility expired. Of those, more than half (9,621) competed in football, baseball or basketball. These students typically do not count in graduation rates because they earn degrees outside the six-year window measured by both the federal graduation rate and the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate.
The APR is a real-time measure of eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes competing on every NCAA Division I athletics team. The most recent scores are based on a multi-year rate that averages scores from the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 academic years. The goal of academic reform is improvement, not punishment. Not only does academic reform ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams, and institutions, but it also provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school.
For the first time, a portion of NCAA revenue is being distributed this year to members based on the academic achievement of student-athletes, including APR scores. Each school can earn one academic achievement unit per year if its student-athletes meet at least one of the following requirements:
• Earn an overall single-year all-sport Academic Progress Rate of 985 or higher.
• Earn an overall all-sport Graduation Success Rate of 90% or higher.
• Earn a federal graduation rate that is at least 13 percentage points higher than the federal graduation rate of the student body at that school.
As requested by the Division I Board of Directors, the NCAA will not publicize which schools received the unit. Dollar figures were impacted by the cancellation of the 2020 Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
All of the Eagles' 18 sports had multi-year APR rates of 955 or above with the baseball, men's golf, women's cross country, women's golf, women's gymnastics, and volleyball teams posting perfect 1000 single-year rates in the latest report for the 2018-19 academic year. Additionally, five teams equaled or exceeded their best multi-year score since the APR began in 2004-05. All of EMU's teams were comfortably above the NCAA's minimum score of 930. Meanwhile, the men's golf, women's golf and volleyball programs at Eastern Michigan posted the highest APR scores in the Mid-American Conference, while football ranked second in the league.
"We prepare our student-athletes to achieve academic and athletic excellence," Vice President/Director of Athletics Scott Wetherbee said. "Consistent with our mission, we take great pride in how our student-athletes embody the highest standards of excellence in the classroom, on the field, and how they are engaged in the community. Our faculty, staff, coaches, and administration work tirelessly to assist our student-athletes in achieving their goals, including their academic and athletic endeavors."
In all, eight of EMU's sports posted multi-year scores equal to or better than a year ago. The largest increases came from the men's golf program (improving from 993 to 1000) and football (climbing from 970 to 976). Baseball (improving six points to 964) and soccer (climbing five points to 994) also made strong increases.
The football, men's golf, women's golf, women's soccer, and volleyball programs all posted their best multi-year rates ever. The Eastern Michigan men's golf, women's golf and volleyball squads were awarded public recognition a week ago for ranking among the top 10 percent of all Division I programs in their respective sport. It was the eighth straight year that volleyball has been honored, while it marked the fourth time in the last five seasons for women's golf. Additionally, men's golf made the list for the first-time since 2005-06 and the third time overall.
In total, five intercollegiate sport programs at the Eastern improved their single-year APR scores, while an additional four programs (men's golf, women's golf, women's gymnastics, and volleyball) maintained their single-year scores. Football improved from 972 to 987 for its highest single-year rate in program-history, while baseball saw a 67-point increase from 933 to 1000. Women's cross country moved from a 974 in 2017-18 to a 1,000 in 2018-19, rowing grew its single-year tally from 951 to 960, and women's track improved from 972 to 977.
Additionally, five of the Eagles' teams ranked in the top half of the Mid-American Conference.
The APR, created to provide more of a real-time measurement of academic success than graduation rates offer, is a team-based metric in which scholarship student-athletes earn 1 point each term for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating. Schools that don't offer scholarships track their recruited student-athletes.
Every Division I sports team submits data to have its Academic Progress Rate calculated each academic year. The NCAA reports both single-year and four-year rates, on which penalties for poor academic performance are based. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable, member-provided data. APRs for each team, lists of teams receiving public recognition and those receiving sanctions are available online through the NCAA's searchable database.
"The Committee on Academics commends Division I students engaged in intercollegiate athletics for their hard work and depth of commitment to success in both academic and athletic pursuits," said John J. DeGioia, chair of the Division I Committee on Academic. "The strong academic standards provided by the Academic Performance Program have led to thousands of students graduating and gaining access to the lifelong benefits of a college education. We are proud of them for their accomplishments and Division I member institutions for their dedication to a common framework for sustained student achievement."
Since the Division I membership created the Academic Performance Program 15 years ago, more than 18,750 former student-athletes have earned APR points for their prior teams by returning to college and earning a degree after their eligibility expired. Of those, more than half (9,621) competed in football, baseball or basketball. These students typically do not count in graduation rates because they earn degrees outside the six-year window measured by both the federal graduation rate and the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate.
The APR is a real-time measure of eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes competing on every NCAA Division I athletics team. The most recent scores are based on a multi-year rate that averages scores from the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 academic years. The goal of academic reform is improvement, not punishment. Not only does academic reform ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams, and institutions, but it also provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school.
For the first time, a portion of NCAA revenue is being distributed this year to members based on the academic achievement of student-athletes, including APR scores. Each school can earn one academic achievement unit per year if its student-athletes meet at least one of the following requirements:
• Earn an overall single-year all-sport Academic Progress Rate of 985 or higher.
• Earn an overall all-sport Graduation Success Rate of 90% or higher.
• Earn a federal graduation rate that is at least 13 percentage points higher than the federal graduation rate of the student body at that school.
As requested by the Division I Board of Directors, the NCAA will not publicize which schools received the unit. Dollar figures were impacted by the cancellation of the 2020 Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
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