May 24, 2011

Fifteen of the University of South Carolina’s 19 countable intercollegiate sports, including every men’s sport, either matched or surpassed its highest mark in the five-year history of the data, according to the Academic Progress Rate (APR) statistics released today. In addition, 13 of South Carolina’s programs, including football, ranked above the national average for public institutions, according to the report.

The APR is a point system based on scholarship student-athletes’ eligibility and retention for a pre-determined four-year time period. NCAA sports falling below the established point cutoff (925) may be subject to penalties including scholarship reductions. The data released on Tuesday includes the scholarship student-athletes on rosters for the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 200-10 academic years.

Highlighting the South Carolina data is the football program, posting a 2009-10 single year score of 975 and a multi-year APR of 954, both the highest marks on record. Men’s basketball logged a single year score of 978 to lift its multi-year APR to 930, surpassing the 925 threshold for the first time. In addition, women’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s soccer, men’s swimming & diving and volleyball all reported a single year APR score of 1000.

“Where we’ve come from with our APR numbers over the past five years has been pretty spectacular,” noted Athletics Director Eric Hyman. “We applaud the efforts made by Raymond Harrison and his staff in the Dodie Academic Enrichment Center, the coaches and, most importantly, the student-athletes. The numbers reflect the tremendous progress we have made in fulfilling the academic dreams of our student-athletes and show that academics and athletics are not mutually exclusive.”

“We take great pride in the consistent progress we’ve made in our APR scores,” added Raymond Harrison, Associate Athletics Director-Academic Services. “This is the third straight year that 15 of 19 programs either matched or exceeded their previous best multi-year mark. It shows a commitment to academics from all involved, and we want to thank the coaches and the student-athletes for a job well done.”

South Carolina’s Multi-Year APR Rate (Four-Year Rolling Period) by Sport: