The NCAA recently released its annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) statistics, and the numbers are intriguing and encouraging for the Division I HBCU conferences.
Academic Progress Rate scores are calculated by adding up points for each scholarship athlete on campus who maintains academic eligibility and points for each semester they remain in school and/or earn their degree.
The NCAA usually penalizes schools that consistently perform below the cut line of 930 points, but it has declined to do so in the COVID-19 suspension era, which ends following the 2024-25 academic year.
In the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, North Carolina Central registered the highest overall APR with a program-wide average of 957. For the 2022-23 academic year, both Eagles men’s and women’s basketball teams recorded an APR of 1,000, which is the highest possible score. The football team also recorded an APR of 954, second only to Howard’s 975.
Norfolk State and Maryland-Eastern Shore tied for the second-highest overall APR at 938. Morgan State was fourth at 922, South Carolina State was fifth at 918, Howard was sixth at 909, and Delaware State and Coppin State tied for seventh at 906.
Delaware State’s men’s basketball APR of 844 was the lowest in the MEAC and resulted in a loss of practice penalty from the NCAA. Coppin State and South Carolina State also received similar penalties.
In the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Texas Southern men’s basketball recorded the highest APR at 989, with Southern next at 973. Jackson State had the highest 2022-23 APR among football programs with 966, while several basketball programs—Florida A&M women, Arkansas-Pine Bluff women, Alcorn State men, Prairie View men and women, Alabama State men, and Grambling State men—registered a 1,000 score.
Tennessee State, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and the OVC-Big South football partnership, had a 1,000 APR for men’s basketball, 936 for women’s basketball, and 881 for football.
Hampton’s women’s basketball team recorded a 1,000 APR, while the football team scored 927 and men’s basketball registered 900. North Carolina A&T, members of the Coastal Athletic Association like Hampton, also recorded a 1,000 APR for women’s basketball, football registered a 957 APR, and men’s basketball scored 939.
All Division I APR information can be found on the NCAA’s official website.