The NCAA last year implemented a reform package designed to improve academic persistence and graduation rates of student-athletes. The centerpiece of the program is the Academic Progress Rate, which awards two points each term to scholarship student-athletes; one each for meeting academic eligibility requirements and for staying in school. A team’s APR is the total points earned by the team divided by the total points possible. For example, a basketball team with 10 players who all met both standards would receive 20 points of a possible 20, or 1.000.
Below are 2004-05 APRs for seven selected universities. The first number indicates the APR for the football team. The second number is the APR for all sports teams at that school.
| SCHOOL | FOOTBALL | OVERALL |
|---|---|---|
| Princeton | .997 | .994 |
| Stanford | .994 | .980 |
| Harvard | .992 | .990 |
| U. of Michigan | .949 | .973 |
| UC-Berkeley | .924 | .964 |
| USC | .910 | .932 |
| UCLA | .890 | .947 |
Under NCAA rules, if any team’s APR score drops below .925 and an academically ineligible student leaves the team, his or her scholarship cannot be given to another player for one year.
