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LSU Sports Pass NCAA Academic Grading System

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
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LSU Sports Pass NCAA Academic Grading System

BATON ROUGE — All of LSU’s 20 varsity sports recorded acceptable scores in the annual report of Academic Progress Rates (APR) released Wednesday by the NCAA.  The ratings released this week by the NCAA are part of the NCAA’s continuing academic reform efforts.

The APR is a point system based on scholarship athletes’ eligibility and retention for a pre-determined time period.  Points are awarded each semester for academic eligibility and retention, with two points possible per semester per student-athlete.

NCAA sports falling below an established cutoff point are subject to penalties including scholarship reductions.  A perfect APR score is 1000 and the cutoff point for potential penalties is 925.

“LSU Athletics has adapted well to the new NCAA academic standards designed to motivate enhanced student-athlete academic performance and ultimately higher graduation rates,” said LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe. “We are dedicated to maintaining our performance in those sports posting high marks, and we are committed to improving scores for others.  But in all cases, progress is evident.”

Men’s tennis scored the highest among LSU sports for the third year in a row with a perfect score of 1000.  The LSU men’s tennis program is one of only 10 sports teams in the SEC that received public recognition from the NCAA for finishing in the top 10 percent in the nation in its respective sport.

“Our coaches understand and appreciate that the APR is of paramount importance to the goal of educating and graduating LSU student-athletes,” said LSU athletic director Skip Bertman.  “I am pleased our teams are achieving significant scores, and we remain committed to academic improvement and excellence throughout our athletic program.”

Other LSU teams with APR scores of 970 or above include gymnastics at 988, women’s golf at 981, men’s indoor track and field at 974 and women’s tennis at 973.  A total of 13 of LSU’s 20 sports posted APR scores of 950 or higher.

Seventeen of LSU’s 20 sports were above the 925 APR target score.  Three others –baseball, men’s basketball and men’s cross country — were within a “confidence boundary” and not subject to any penalties.

The confidence boundary is a statistical adjustment made for sports with specific sample sizes.  It is a means to recognize academic performance in such circumstances where a sport’s squad size may have the effect of distorting the data.  Currently APR scores are determined using three years of data, but confidence boundaries will be reduced and eliminated as more data is available in future years.