Nine Rutgers Athletic Programs Earn NCAA Academic Recognition

A record nine athletic programs of Rutgers were honored by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon for their multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. The programs earning recognition were field hockey, volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, gymnastics, tennis, men’s golf, women’s golf and women’s lacrosse. Seven of them were repeat performers, with field hockey and men’s golf earning recognition for the first time ever.

All-time since APR data began being compiled in the 2004-2005 school year, men’s cross country has earned recognition 10 times, more than any other Rutgers athletic program. Tennis has earned recognition 9 times, followed by women’s golf with 8 times, women’s lacrosse 7 times, gymnastics 6 times and volleyball 4 times.

Rutgers had eight programs earn APR recognition the previous two years before topping it officially yesterday with nine. Within the Big Ten conference, only Northwestern had more programs receive APR recognition out of the 14 school league. 67 Big Ten programs overall received APR recognition and Rutgers made up over 13% of that tally. A program must post a score in the top 10% of its sport to earn APR recognition.

Here is more detail per the Rutgers press release:

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance. The multiyear rates are based on scores from the 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years.

“We are incredibly proud of our student-athletes for their contribution to the University’s academic reputation,” said Director of Athletics Pat Hobbs. “As I stated at the Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center groundbreaking, our commitment to academics comes first at Rutgers. Today’s announcement further underscores this point, and is a tribute to our staff and coaches who help cultivate a culture of academic achievement.”

Rutgers continues to do a great job supporting its student-athletes. In this past fall semester, Rutgers athletes across 24 programs combined for a 3.12 cumulative grade-point-average, a 3.11 term grade-point-average and had 216 named to the Dean’s List. In addition, a school record 46 student-athletes were named Winter 2019 Academic All-Conference by the Big Ten, which followed 85 being honored in the fall.

While there has been steady improvement on the field this past school year, Rutgers athletics continues to make academics a priority off the field as well.