GREENSBORO – The NCAA recently released its latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) report for each Division I athletics program, which featured five women's programs at North Carolina A&T earning a perfect score of 1000 for the 2013-14 year.

The tennis, basketball, swimming, volleyball and bowling all received the top score.

“More college athletes than ever are succeeding in the classroom, and I applaud their commitment to academic achievement,” said NCAA president Mark Emmert. “We are pleased and proud of their accomplishments. Our goal always has been to encourage students to achieve academically and earn their degrees. Every year, Division I students prove that both academic and athletic success are achievable.”

Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the APR holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.

Similar to a report card, every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year. Scholarship student-athletes each semester earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. In order to compete in the 2015-16 postseason, teams must achieve a 930 multi-year APR.

The APR system includes rewards for superior academic performance and penalties for teams that do not achieve certain academic benchmarks.

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