SoCon excels in NCAA conference APR data

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Eleven Southern Conference sports met or exceeded the national average, and 40 league teams achieved perfect scores in the most recent Academic Progress Rate data released by the NCAA on Tuesday.

The most recent APRs are multiyear rates based on scores from the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years.

Nine of the 10 SoCon members had at least one sport that posted a perfect score of 1,000, with Wofford leading the way with eight, followed by Furman, who had six.

Men’s and women’s tennis, along with women’s cross country each produced five perfect scores, while men’s cross country, volleyball and women’s golf each had four.

Among SoCon men’s programs, baseball, football, cross country, soccer, tennis and track & field all met or surpassed the Division I average. On the women’s side, basketball, cross country, soccer, volleyball and rifle equaled or exceeded the average.

Tennis was the highest-scoring sport among the men with an average team APR of 995, while soccer topped the league’s women’s programs with an average team score of 995.

Nineteen men’s teams and twenty-five women’s teams were recognized for multiyear Academic Progress Rates in the top 10 percent of all squads in their sport. Nine of 10 SoCon members were represented among the forty-four teams, with Wofford and Furman topping the conference with seven teams each.

The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in every sport. All teams must meet an academic threshold of 930 to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.

A portion of NCAA revenue is being distributed this year to members based on the academic achievement of student-athletes, including APR scores.

Each school can earn one academic achievement unit per year if its student-athletes meet at least one of the following requirements:

- Earn an overall single-year all-sport Academic Progress Rate of 985 or higher.

- Earn an overall all-sport Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent or higher.

- Earn a federal graduation rate that is at least 13 percentage points higher than the federal graduation rate of the student body at that school.