June 1, 2015

Seventeen University of Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s athletic programs posted NCAA Academic Progress Rate numbers that ranked them best in the nation within their sports (all 17 with perfect 1,000 scores) and led all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) institutions, according to Notre Dame’s institutional research based on 2015 APR figures released May 27 by the NCAA.

APR statistics for Irish men’s sports featured nine perfect 1,000 scores (all ranking them first within their sports)–in cross country, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field–plus a 989 in ice hockey that ranked tied for sixth among FBS programs.  

APR statistics for Irish women’s sports featured eight perfect 1,000 scores (all ranking them first within their sports)–in cross country, fencing, lacrosse, softball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and volleyball–plus a 996 in rowing that ranked tied for eighth.

All 17 of those sports scoring 1,000 received NCAA APR public recognition awards May 20 for ranking among the top 10 percent of scores within their individual sports. Notre Dame’s 17 honorees led all FBS institutions in 2015. 

All statistics are based on four combined entering classes from 2010-11 through 2013-14.

Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the 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 emerged when Division I presidents and chancellors sought a more timely assessment of academic success at colleges and universities. At the time, the best measure was the graduation rate calculated under the federally mandated methodology that was based on a six-year window and did not take transfers into account.

Here are the Irish programs that produced APR figures that ranked in the FBS top 10 within their respective sports:

— Women’s cross country at 1,000 tied for first with 21 other schools.

— Women’s fencing at 1,000 tied for first with Duke, North Carolina and Stanford.

— Women’s lacrosse at 1,000 tied for first with six other schools.

— Women’s softball at 1,000 tied for first with 12 other schools.

— Women’s swimming and diving at 1,000 tied for first with nine other schools.

— Women’s indoor track and field at 1,000 tied for first with Boston College, Iowa State, Michigan and Vanderbilt.

— Women’s outdoor track and field at 1,000 tied for first with Boston College, Iowa State, Massachusetts and Vanderbilt.

— Women’s volleyball at 1,000 tied for first with 23 other schools.

— Women’s rowing at 996 tied for eighth (with Navy and North Carolina) behind Boston College, Duke, Stanford, Temple, Buffalo, West Virginia (all at 1,000) and Tennessee (998).

— Men’s cross country at 1,000 tied for first with 18 other schools.

— Men’s fencing at 1,000 ranked first.

— Men’s golf at 1,000 tied for first with 20 other schools.

— Men’s lacrosse at 1,000 tied for first with Duke.

— Men’s soccer at 1,000 ranked first.

— Men’s swimming and diving at 1,000 tied for first with Duke, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati and Miami (Florida).

— Men’s tennis at 1,000 tied for first with 17 other schools.

— Men’s indoor track and field at 1,000 ranked first.

— Men’s outdoor track and field at 1,000 tied for first with Boston College, Tulane and Cincinnati.

— Men’s hockey at 989 tied for sixth with Minnesota, behind only Air Force (998), Michigan State (997), Boston College (996), Ohio State (994) and Bowling Green (990).

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