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Wisconsin Football Tops the Country in Academic Progress Rate

By Jim Oxley

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The Wisconsin football program — for the third straight season — tops all FBS teams in the country in Academic Progress Rate, a measure that basically takes into account whether student athletes a) remain in school and b) remain academically eligible.

Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers /

Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin — over all its sports — achieved an APR of 998, topping the nation.

According to NCAA.com, the Academic Progress Rate, or APR, “holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.”

The site states that the measure was implemented in 2003 as a way to access “a more timely assessment of academic success at colleges and universities.” Prior to APR, the best measure of academic success was the graduation rate, which “was based on a six-year window and did not take transfers into account.” (Graduation rate is also no longer used, as a new metric that takes transfers into account — Graduation Success Rate — has been implemented).

Here’s the release from UW, in its entirety:

"MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin football team’s multiyear Academic Progress Rate of 998 is the top mark of all FBS teams in the country according to the NCAA’s release on Wednesday. The Badgers lead a top five that includes Northwestern (992), Duke (992), Michigan (990) and Stanford (987).This marks the third-straight year the Badgers’ football team has earned an APR Public Recognition Award, given to programs that finish among the top 10 percent in their sport. UW joins Boise State, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Northwestern, Rutgers and Stanford as the only football programs that can make that claim.The women’s golf program, which achieved a perfect score of 1000 in its multiyear APR, also earned an APR Public Recognition Award, the fifth-straight year it has done so. In all, 10 of UW’s 23 sports had an APR of at least 990. Also, 19 Badgers programs were at or above their respective sport averages when compared to teams nationwide.Wisconsin was one of just four FBS schools to achieve at least a 985 APR in football and men’s basketball, joining Duke, Stanford and Michigan. Adding men’s hockey to the mix, UW is the only FBS school (and joins FCS schools Dartmouth and Holy Cross) with at least a 985 APR in those three sports.Eight programs earned a perfect single-year APR score of 1000, including men’s basketball, football, men’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s golf, women’s hockey, softball and volleyball.Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.The APR is calculated as follows:"

"Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible."

"A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate."

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