Each year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA honored selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR). The academic recognition honors recognize those teams that posted multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 NCAA APR release will not include public recognition awards, APR penalties or loss of access to post-season competition as these elements remain suspended through Spring 2023. The 2022 release will only include the public version of the APR and aggregate data for all Division I institutions.
The four-year APR scores for all of WSU’s 13 sports programs registered a 942 or above to be in good standing established by the NCAA’s standards. Eleven of 13 programs registered a score of 970 or higher. A program is in good standing if it registers a multi-year rate of 930 or above. A team must achieve a 930 four-year rate in order to be eligible for competition in NCAA post-season play.
The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance. The most recent multi-year APRs are based on scores from the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.
The only student-athletes that figure into a team and institution’s APR are those receiving athletic financial aid. A student-athlete receiving athletic financial aid has the opportunity to earn two points each semester – an eligibility point and a retention point. Thus, a student-athlete has the opportunity to earn up to four points each academic year for his/her team and institution. An institution can be discounted the retention point if a student-athlete transfers to another 4-year institution and leaves Wichita State academically eligible or if a student-athlete transfers to a 2-year institution and leaves Wichita State with a 3.30 or higher cumulative GPA.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Wichita State University received one APR Public Recognition Awards for the 2018-19 academic year – men’s tennis. It was the second consecutive year for the men’s tennis team to win an APR recognition award. The Volleyball team previously received seven consecutive APR Public Recognition awards – 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15.
The Women’s Golf team received four consecutive APR Public Recognition awards – 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Men’s Cross Country team won an APR Public Recognition award in 2013-14 and women’s cross country in 2015-16. The Men’s Golf team won public recognition awards in 2010-11 and 2017-18 while the Women’s Tennis team received a Public Recognition Award in 2010-11.