TAMPA - The University of South Florida women’s golf, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball programs have all been honored by the NCAA with public recognition awards for having scores in the top-10 percent of their respective sports in the latest multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR). All three posted perfect scores of 1,000 in the newest report which reflects rates from the 2007-08 season to 2010-11.
“These programs are a great example of what we’re striving for here at USF,” said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug Woolard. “It takes committed student-athletes, who are guided by strong coaching staffs and student-services departments, to achieve this level of success. We’ve seen our academic prowess continue to rise over the past few years and everyone involved should be very proud of this accomplishment.”
Women’s tennis is receiving its second-straight public recognition honor after also being honored in 2010-11, while women’s golf is being recognized for the third time since 2004 (2004-05 and 2005-06). Overall, USF has had 13 programs be publically honored for posting top-10 percent scores nationally since the beginning of the NCAA academic reform program in 2004.
APR provides a real-time view of a team's academic success by tracking the progress of each student-athlete during the school year. By measuring eligibility and retention each semester or quarter, the APR provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. An APR score of 925 is the minimum level of academic success; teams scoring below 925 can lose scholarships and face other sanctions over time, including bans on postseason play.
The full APR release with data for every team in the NCAA will be released on June 20. For the complete NCAA release on its APR Public Recognition Awards, head to NCAA.org.
