INDIANAPOLIS – Illinois State Athletics earned a four-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 990 in the NCAA's latest Division I report released today. The 990 score, a cumulative 17-team multi-year rate average, exceeds the national four-year average of 984.
This year's APR release marks the 20th anniversary of APR data collection. The APR tracks eligibility and retention of scholarship student-athletes each semester and annually provides a real-time picture of the performance of each team on these two measures.
"In athletics, we celebrate wins on the court and field, but to me, this is the biggest win," ISU Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs said. "These numbers represent the hard work and talent of our student-athletes and the investment we have made in their academic pursuits. Thank you to the athletics department staff, ISU faculty and administration, and our donors who have made academics a priority for Redbird Athletics."
Eight Redbird teams achieved perfect APR single-year scores of 1,000 for the 2022-23 academic year: men's and women's basketball, women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's tennis, women's track & field, and volleyball.
"We are proud of our Redbird student-athletes for their classroom excellence and for exceeding very high national standards," ISU Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Student Services Cindy Harris stated. "APR scores this high could not be attainable without the efforts of our coaches, the Karin L. Bone Study Center staff, our University College advisors, and perhaps most importantly the ISU faculty who challenge, inspire and support our student-athletes every day in their academic pursuits."
Women's cross country and women's golf also achieved a 1,000 in the multi-year rate - a four-year combined perfect score. These teams were additionally honored with their receipt of the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their APR ranking in the top 10 percent across all Division I teams nationally within their respective sport. It marked the second time that the women's cross country program has earned the award, while this year marked the sixth time women's golf has finished in the top 10 percent.
Other Illinois State highlights from the latest NCAA APR report included:
• Fourteen of ISU's 17 teams exceeded the national average APR score – nine of these were women's teams, while five were men's teams.
• Football's APR of 977 exceeded the national FCS average by 20 points.
• Men's Basketball's APR of 985 exceeded the national average by 17 points.
• Women's Basketball's APR of 991 exceeded the national average by 10 points.
• All of Illinois State's teams achieved an APR score above the NCAA's threshold to avoid penalties.
Tuesday's announcement is the NCAA's latest report of APR for all Division I schools and includes single-year scores for 2022-23 and four-year multi-year scores between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 academic years.
A full list of APRs for each team, including the Top 10, can be accessed by using the APR searchable database: https://web3.ncaa.org/aprsearch/aprsearch
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
