The NCAA has released its 2026 Academic Progress Rate (APR) data, showing that Division I teams rose by 2 points to an overall rate of 986, marking the first increase in 4 years.
In 2025, the NCAA released the national four-year report, which stayed at 984 for four straight years.
The APR for each Division I sports team is calculated using a formula in which scholarship student-athletes earn one point for staying on track for their chosen degree and another 1 point for being retained or graduating at the end of each term.
The team’s total is divided by the possible points, then multiplied by 1,000. If a team does not offer athletic scholarships, those recruited athletes are then tracked.
The NCAA did not publicly record APRs in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but reintroduced the APR in 2022.
Over the last 22 years of the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program, more than 22,000 athletes have returned to earn their degrees.
There are penalties for teams that score below 930 points.
This has occurred in athletic programs before; in 2025, the Akron football team was deemed ineligible for postseason competition after its APR score was 914. The team was also not allowed to practice the usual 20 hours per week; instead, they were limited to just 16. The team was granted a waiver by the NCAA in March, allowing it to be eligible for postseason competition and to resume 20-hour training weeks.
That 930 mark has only not been met twice ever among swimming and diving programs, and no team has been under since the 2015-2016 season.
Lemme get those 2 names
….not wondering at all what teams were under the 930 mark. Swimswam definitely not leaving a cliffhanger here
In men
Tennessee 893
ASU 937 ……
etc….
Understand the penalty for being under 930 is having an assistant coach write “We will do better next year” on a blackboard 100 times – Under the strict surveillance of an NCAA compliance officer.
A nice bowl of crock data