NCAA APR Database
 
Three Eastern Washington University athletic programs have been recognized by the NCAA for their Academic Progress Rate, which is the annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all NCAA Division I sports teams.
 
Eastern's women's tennis, women's soccer and men's cross country programs were honored with NCAA Public Recognition Awards for their multi-year APR scores of 1,000. Men's cross country and women's tennis also received scores of 1,000 for 2020-21 as well. Additionally, all 14 programs were above marks of 960 for 2020-21.
 
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. 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 women's tennis team is coached by Dustin Hinson, and was also honored in 2018, 2019 and 2020. This is the seventh time overall women's tennis has been honored since the awards were instituted in the 2004-05 academic year, all with perfect scores.
 
Women's soccer, coached by Missy Strasburg, was honored for the second time (2019-20). Men's cross country was honored for eight-straight years before a seven-year lull, and have now been honored twice in the last two APR announcements. The squad is coached by Sam Read.
 
For the 2020-21 academic year, women's soccer posted a score of 995, followed by men's tennis and women's golf with 991. Women's volleyball had a mark of 985, followed by men's basketball (984), women's basketball (978), women's cross country (972), women's track (970), football (969) and men's track (961).
 
More on the Academic Progress Rate from the NCAA…
 
Despite having to deal with the many challenges of recent years, Division I student-athletes continue to perform well in the classroom. The national four-year Academic Progress Rate is 984, up 1 point from the last publicly reported rate in May 2020. Men's basketball improved by 2 points to 968, while baseball (977), football (964) and women's basketball (983) remained steady for their four-year average.

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 thepublic release of the APR data.
 
"The APR data continues to demonstrate the high level of academic achievement of our student-athletes and teams, and their resiliency to excel through a global pandemic and instability in the intercollegiate landscape," said Division I Committee on Academics chair Dianne Harrison, president emerita at California State University, Northridge. "The APR has been and continues to be a valuable real-time tool that provides us with an opportunity to identify and work with schools that may need additional assistance to improve their academic support services. Overall, the Academic Performance Program furthers the NCAA's commitment to academic excellence and integrity and the public release of this APR data while penalties are suspended is a reasonable interim step."

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.

Throughout 18 years of the Academic Performance Program, more than 20,000 student-athletes have gone back to school to earn their degrees — earning points for their former team. For the high-profile sports of football, baseball, and men's and women's basketball, more than 10,400 former student-athletes have returned to college to complete their degrees. These student-athletes are typically not counted in the federal graduation rate or Graduation Success Rate calculations.

The minimum APR academic standard for each team is 930. Typically, teams that scored below the benchmark would have to face penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics. However, due to the current penalty suspension in place, teams will not be subjected to penalties this year. Last year, APR data was not released publicly, and penalties were not assessed.

The Division I Committee on Academics has developed and implemented policies and initiatives to improve academic support services on campuses. Additionally, the national office is actively involved in working with schools to enhance their academic programs to help student-athletes successfully earn their degrees.