Congratulations to the Bethune-Cookman football team for registering the conference’s highest mark on the latest NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Report.

The NCAA uses the APR to measure eligibility and retention of student-athletes, which it considers a predictor of graduation rates. A score of 925 is considered equivalent to a 50% graduation rate and achieving anything below that number is subject to penalties.  The APR is calculated on a rolling four year average commonly referred to as the “multi-year rate”.

Bethune-Cookman registered a multi-year score of 935 on the most recent APR report released on Tuesday.  BCU’s 935 was the highest amongst Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football teams.  North Carolina Central and Howard, whose football teams logged scores of 932 and 931 respectively, round out the conference’s top three APR performers.

The latest report substantiates BCU’s commitment to develop men on and off the football field.  In response to the latest report, BCU athletic director Lynn Thompson stated: “winning the MEAC football crown this year is great. However, having the highest APR score in the league validates for us the commitment of our coaching staff, academic support team and student-athletes in being winners in the classroom, on the playing field and in the community.”

Last year, the NCAA awarded the Wildcat football program the FCS ADA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Award for Most Improved MEAC school after improving its APR during the 2010-11 school year. 

Academic Progress Rate data for all sports can be accessed at http://web1.ncaa.org/maps/aprRelease.jsp.  The teams are searchable by sport, conference, institution, state, year, post season and penalty type.

Multi-Year APR Results for MEAC Football:

Sport	School	State	Academic Year	Multi-Year Rate	Penalties	Postseason
Football	Bethune-Cookman University	FL	2011   – 2012	935
Football	North Carolina Central University	NC	2011   – 2012	932
Football	Howard University	DC	2011   – 2012	931
Football	Morgan State University	MD	2011   – 2012	922
Football	South Carolina State University	SC	2011   – 2012	912
Football	Florida A&M University	FL	2011   – 2012	903
Football	Hampton University	VA	2011   – 2012	901
Football	Delaware State University	DE	2011   – 2012	901
Football	Savannah State University	GA	2011   – 2012	876	Level One Penalty – Practice   Reduction = Yes	Postseason Ineligibility = Yes
Football	North Carolina A&T State University	NC	2011   – 2012	874
Football	Norfolk State University	VA	2011   – 2012	864