Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Continues to Shine in APR Calculation
Marshall Continues to Shine in APR Calculation
Five post perfect single-year scores
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University had five athletic programs earn a perfect single-year (2016-17) APR (Academic Progress Rates) score, the NCAA announced Wednesday afternoon. Also, five programs either improved or equaled their multi-year APR score from last year, four of which set a program record for best APR since it became a metric for Division I academic performance in 2003.
The Thundering Herd programs with a perfect single-year APR of 1,000 were women's basketball, women's golf, softball, women's swimming and diving and volleyball. Swimming and diving and volleyball recorded a perfect 1,000 APR for the third consecutive year.
Five programs - men's cross country, women's basketball, swimming and diving, track and field and volleyball - have a multi-year APR average higher than the national average. The multi-year scores cover the academic years 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The multi-year APR scores for women's basketball (995), swimming and diving (1,000) and volleyball (995) are the highest ever for those programs at Marshall, respectively. The men's basketball team's score of 965 tied its program record of two years ago.
"The addition of the Buck Harless Student-Athlete Academic Center continues to benefit our young people and these numbers bear that out," said Mike Hamrick, the Thundering Herd's Director of Athletics. "Their performance, along with the hard work put in by our academic support unit and coaching staffs, underscore why success in the classroom is one of the most important priorities at Marshall."
According to the APR, Marshall had seven athletic programs finish in the top five within their sport in Conference USA: men's cross country, women's cross country, women's basketball, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving, track and field and volleyball.
The NCAA Division I academic progress rates system was implemented in 2003 as part of "an ambitious academic reform effort," according to the NCAA's website. The APR holds institutions accountable for academic progress of student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.