COLUMBIA, Mo. – Four University of Missouri athletics programs posted perfect Academic Progress Rates (APR) for the 2020-21 academic cohort as women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf and women’s tennis all excelled in the classroom.
Women’s tennis recorded its seventh-straight perfect APR while women’s basketball earned its fourth and women’s cross country its third. Mizzou women’s golf earned its first 1,000 since 2015-16 and its sixth overall.
Mizzou’s 18 programs combined to average a score of 990 – above the national four-year average of 984. 15 teams matched or improved their APR over the last public release in 2018-19. Football produced its highest APR in the 18-year history of the metric while 12 Mizzou teams scored 990 or better.
Men’s Teams: Baseball (981), Basketball (963), Cross Country (973), Football (983), Golf (992), Swimming & Diving (992), Track & Field (974), Wrestling (986)
Women’s Teams: Basketball (1,000), Cross Country (1,000), Golf (1,000), Gymnastics (995), Softball (992), Soccer (996), Swimming & Diving (994), Tennis (1,000), Track & Field (998), Volleyball (995)
The current APR includes data from the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 academic years. The public announcement of APRs returned after a one-year hiatus. This spring, the Division I Board of Directors approved the continual suspension of APR penalties for an additional year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it supported the public release of the APR data.
ABOUT THE ACADEMIC PROGRESS RATE
Each academic year, every Division I sports team across the country calculates its APR using a simple and consistent formula. Each term, scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating. For schools that do not offer scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
The Academic Performance Program has established an essential framework for academic excellence. The program provides measurable goals to ensure schools are fulfilling their commitment of equipping student-athletes with the tools and resources necessary to achieve academic success.
