COLUMBUS, Ohio – The release today of the NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate data shows Ohio State and its student-athletes and athletic programs continue to excel in the classroom.
In the 18th year of APR data for most teams, the scores provide a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for academic eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance. The most recent APR scores are based on a multi-year rate that averages scores from the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.
Dr. John Davidson, Ohio State Faculty Athletics Representative, noted the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on APR data, but highlighted what the newly released data shows.
“In response to the strains that the COVID-pandemic placed on student-athletes and academic support staff, the NCAA’s Committee on Academics in Autumn 2020 recommended a temporary change regarding APR data. The Board of Directors concurred, determining that the 2019-20 information needed to be collected and submitted, but its public release and use to calculate penalties and/or postseason bans was suspended for the year. In Spring 2022 the suspension of public release was ended, and in June of this year the 2020-21 scores were published. They show that Ohio State’s student-athletes have continued to perform at the highest level in the classroom as well as in their sports during this especially difficult period. More than half of our athletics teams attained 1000, a perfect score, for the 2020-21 year.”
In all, 16 teams had perfect 1,000 scores for 2020-21 – baseball, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s fencing, men’s golf, men’s gymnastics, men’s soccer, wrestling, women’s golf, women’s ice hockey, women’s swimming, women’s track, women’s volleyball and rifle.
The combined single-year APR for 2020-21 of 992 is the second-highest in school history, behind only the 995 from 2019-20. Davidson said the department’s focus and values contribute to the sustained success.
“The current data shows not only that academics continued to be a priority under pandemic conditions for students, coaches and support staff, but also that a focus on academic success has been a core value over time at Ohio State,” Davidson said. “The current multi-year score, which accounts for eligibility and retention across a cohort spanning four academic years, is the second highest in the institution’s history. No individual team is below 975 on a scale of 1000 for the multi-year calculation, with a strong majority of our teams scoring at or above 990, including football, which recorded a 991, the highest in program history. Three men’s and three women’s teams have flawless records of 1000 for this cohort.”
Men’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, softball, women’s swimming and wrestling all had perfect four-year scores.
Of the 26 Ohio State teams included in the APR data, 19 have a multi-year score of at least 990, with 23 at 980 or better. All 26 in the cohort have multi-year scores of better than 975.
“Our amazing student-athletes are to be congratulated for their unwavering commitment to excellence,” Davidson said. “The results of their efforts speak for themselves, but it is important to remember that those efforts do not take place in a vacuum. Coaches understand the importance of recruiting players who have the ability and desire to flourish in pursuit of an OSU degree. The staff in academic support and compliance offer invaluable assistance for coaches in the pursuit of such players and provide foundational resources for those student-athletes once they arrive on campus. Athletics administration has created a culture in which academic success and preparation for life after sports are consistent goals. The academic excellence catalogued in the 2020-21 APR data again serves as a reflection of Athletics’ values at Ohio State.”
In 2021-22, Ohio State athletics produced 201 student-athlete graduates and 94 percent of those graduates are either employed, accepted to graduate school or playing professionally. The department recognized 788 OSU Scholar-Athletes and a record 552 were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.
