Sun Devil Athletics posts highest APR score to date

Baseball, tennis in top 10 percent nationally in APR

The NCAA's annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) report was announced June 11 with Arizona State University posting its highest average APR score to date for all sports – 980 – and an average score of 988 for women’s teams.

Baseball and women’s tennis received public recognition for their rank in the nation’s top 10 percent. The baseball program has improved greatly from just a few years ago, going from last place to second in the conference, trailing only Stanford. Nine ASU teams finished in the top third of the Pac-12 Conference and nine teams had a single year APR of 1000 – or 100 percent – in 2011-2012, including baseball and men’s basketball.

“We are extremely proud of the outstanding work our coaches and Office of Student-Athlete Development have done in leading our student-athletes in the classroom. We won’t stop here and want the scores to keep trending in the same great direction,” said Steve Patterson, vice president for University Athletics.

“We are proud that we are among the leaders in Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners every year, produce Academic All-Americans and are graduating Sun Devil student-athletes at all-time highs,” Patterson said. “Every Sun Devil Club member, fan and alumni can be proud of the work being done by our OSAD staff, led by former Sun Devil student-athletes like Jean Boyd, Patrice Feulner and Natalie Thackrah (Burgess).”

Since the APR measurement began during the 2003-2004 academic year, ASU’s average for all sports has gone from 937 to the most current all-sport average of 980 for 2011-2012. The latest APR report reflected ASU as fourth best in the Pac-12 Conference, just a fraction behind Washington (983) and Utah (981).

For the sixth consecutive year, all 21 of ASU’s athletic teams have exceeded the minimum APR scores for the NCAA’s most recent four-year reporting period. Women’s tennis led the way with a 1000 multi-year average, an accomplishment it has achieved for nine consecutive years.

“We are pleased to report the continued progress of Sun Devil student-athlete academic success, " said Jean Boyd, senior associate athletic director for Student-Athlete Development. "High APR scores translate into high graduation rates in a few years and it is exciting to see the collective vision of our student-athletes, coaches, academic coaches and the university being realized. Many of our sports teams are amongst the best in the country in their sport and academically.”