BATON ROUGE – LSU’s 21 varsity sports teams continue to thrive in the classroom as the Tigers showed improvement over last year in all but one sport in the annual Academic Progress Rates (APR) released by the NCAA on Wednesday.
The APR ratings released by the NCAA are part of the organization’s continuing academic reform efforts.
LSU’s success in the annual APR Report comes on the heels of the school’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report last November that revealed an all-time high of 88% for the Tigers.
Women’s basketball, which recently reached the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in six years under head coach Nikki Caldwell, had the biggest improvement of all LSU teams, jumping 26 points from 949 to 975.
The Tiger football program had an 18-point bounce, going from a 941 a year ago to a current mark of 959.
In all, 16 of LSU’s 21 teams scored at least a 975 with 11 of those reaching the 990-mark or better. LSU had five sports score a perfect 1000 – men’s cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s golf and beach volleyball.
The APR is a point system based on scholarship athletes’ eligibility and retention for a pre-determined time period. This year’s report is for the four-year period beginning in the fall of 2012. Points are awarded each semester for academic eligibility and retention, with two points possible per semester per student-athlete.
NCAA sports falling below the established cutoff point of 930 are subject to penalties including scholarship reductions. A perfect APR score is 1000.
LSU Multi-Year APR Scores:
Men’s Sports:
Baseball, 966
Basketball, 974
Cross Country, 1000
Football, 959
Golf, 993
Swimming & Diving, 997
Tennis, 1000
Track & Field, 975
Women’s Sports:
Basketball, 975
Cross Country, 989
Golf, 1000
Gymnastics, 990
Soccer, 983
Softball, 990
Swimming & Diving, 995
Tennis, 1000
Indoor Track & Field, 985
Volleyball, 994
Beach Volleyball, 1000