The University of Notre Dame led the way among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools with 16 perfect scores in the latest release of Academic Progress Rating (APR) statistics from the NCAA. The Irish ranked ahead of Atlantic Coast Conference institutions Duke (14) and NC State (11) with teams posting a perfect APR score.
Notre Dame baseball, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s fencing, men’s and women’s golf, hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s swimming and diving, women’s tennis, men’s track and field, softball and volleyball all secured perfect 1,000 APR scores in the 2022-23 report.
Notre Dame also joined nine other Power Five conference teams (Clemson, NC State, Virginia, Cincinnati, Texas, Northwestern, Southern Cal, Alabama and Mississippi) to see all reported programs scoring at least 975 or higher in the latest APR.
Notre Dame’s 16 programs with scores of 1,000 marked the ninth time in the 18-year history of the APR in which at least 13 Irish teams had scored perfectly (also in 2006, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Notre Dame’s number of perfect scores has ranked either first or second among all FBS programs for 18 consecutive years. Notre Dame led FBS schools in 1,000 scores in 2023, 2021, 2020 and 2019 (both years tied with Stanford at 13), 2016 (with 16), 2015 (with an institutional record 17), 2013 and 2012 (both with 12), 2009 (with nine), 2008 (with eight, tied with Duke) and 2006 (with 14, tied with Boston College).
Notre Dame finished second in the number of 1,000 scores in 2022, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2011, 2010 and 2007.
The APR, created to provide more of a real‐time measurement of academic success than graduation rates offer, is a team-based metric where scholarship student-athletes earn one point each term for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. Schools that don’t offer scholarships track their recruited student-athletes.
Every Division I sports team submits data to have its Academic Progress Rate calculated each academic year. The NCAA reports both single-year rates and four-year rates, on which penalties for poor academic performance are based. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable, member-provided data. APRs for each team, lists of teams receiving public recognition and those receiving sanctions are available online through the NCAA’s searchable database.
2023 University of Notre Dame APR Ratings by Sport
Baseball — 1000
Men’s Basketball – 975
Women’s Basketball – 1000
Men’s Cross Country – 1000
Women’s Cross Country – 1000
Men’s Fencing – 1000
Women’s Fencing – 1000
Football – 992
Men’s Golf – 1000
Women’s Golf – 1000
Hockey – 1000
Men’s Lacrosse – 1000
Women’s Lacrosse – 1000
Rowing – 999
Men’s Soccer – 985
Women’s Soccer – 997
Men’s Swimming and Diving – 1000
Women’s Swimming and Diving – 997
Men’s Tennis – 993
Women’s Tennis – 1000
Men’s Track and Field – 1000
Women’s Track and Field – 997
Softball – 1000
Volleyball – 1000
Here is where Notre Dame has ranked annually among FBS institutions in terms of raw numbers of individual team 1,000 APR scores:
2023 –– 1. Notre Dame 16 (8 men’s sports, 8 women’s sports; 2. Duke 14; 3. NC State 11
2022 –– 1. Duke 16; 2. Notre Dame 14 (8 men’s sports, 10 women’s sports) 3. NC State 10, & Northwestern 10; 5. Arizona State & Southern Cal 9;
2021 –– 1. Notre Dame 15 (6 men’s sports, 9 women’s sports) 2. Duke 13; 3. Northwestern 11; 4. Arizona State 10; 5. California 9
2020 — 1. (tie) Notre Dame (7 men’s sports, 6 women’s sports), Stanford 13; 3. Northwestern 12; 4. Arizona State 11; 5. (tie) Temple, California 10
2019 — 1. Notre Dame 13 (6 men’s sports, 7 women’s sports); 2. (tie) Stanford, Northwestern 12; 4. Boston College 11; 5. Syracuse 9
2018 — 1. Stanford 16; 2. Notre Dame 12 (5 men’s, 7 women’s); 3. (tie) Boston College, Northwestern 11; 5. (tie) Duke, North Carolina 10.
2017 — 1. Stanford 14; 2. Notre Dame 12 (4 men’s, 8 women’s) , 3. Boston College 11; 4. (tie), Duke, Minnesota, Northwestern 9; 7. Michigan 8; 8. (tie) California, North Carolina, Rice, Rutgers 7.
2016 — 1. Notre Dame 16 (7 men’s, 9 women’s); 2. Stanford 14; 3. Boston College 12; 4. Minnesota 11; 5. Rice 10; 6. (tie) Duke, Northwestern 9; 8. Tulane 7, 9. (tie) Auburn, Michigan, North Carolina 6.
2015 — 1. Notre Dame 17 (9 men’s, 8 women’s) ; 2. Stanford 15; 3. Northwestern 12; 4. Boston College 10; 5. Duke 9; 6. Minnesota 7; 7. (tie) Arizona State, Tulane, Vanderbilt 7; 10. (tie) Illinois, North Carolina, Penn State, Rice 6.
2014 — 1. Stanford 12; 2. Notre Dame 11 (7 men’s, 4 women’s), 3. Northwestern 10; 4. Minnesota 9; 5. (tie) Boston College, Duke 8; 7. Penn State 7; 8. (tie) Ohio State, Vanderbilt 6.
2013 — 1. Notre Dame 12 (8 men’s, 4 women’s) , 2. Stanford 11; 3. Duke 10; 4. (tie) Boston College, Northwestern 9; 6. Vanderbilt 7; 7. Rice 6
2012 — 1. Notre Dame 12 (8 men’s, 4 women’s) ; 2. (tie) Boston College, Duke 9; 4. (tie) Northwestern, Vanderbilt 8; 6. Stanford 7; 7. (tie) North Carolina, Rice, Texas 5.
2011 — 1. Duke 10; 2. Notre Dame 9 (5 men’s, 4 women’s); 3. Boston College 6, 4. (tie) Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State, Texas, Tulane, U.S. Naval Academy, Vanderbilt 5.
2010 — 1. Duke 10, 2. Notre Dame 8 (5 men’s, 3 women’s); 3. Boston College 7.
2009 — 1. Notre Dame 9 (4 men’s, 5 women’s); 2. Duke 8; 3. (tie) Boston College, Stanford 6; 5. U.S. Naval Academy 5; 6. Michigan 4.
2008 — 1. (tie) Notre Dame (5 men’s, 3 women’s), Duke 8; 3. Boston College 7; 4. Stanford 5; 5. (tie) Northwestern, Rice, U.S. Naval Academy 4.
2007 — 1. Boston College 10, 2. Notre Dame 9 (5 men’s, 4 women’s); 3. (tie) Rice, Stanford, U.S. Naval Academy 7; 6. Duke 6; 7. Northwestern 5.
2006 — 1. (tie) Notre Dame (7 men’s, 7 women’s), Boston College 14.