All 19 WKU athletic teams exceed NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate

Setter Melanie Stutsman, right, celebrates after the Lady Toppers make it match point during WKU’s 3-0 victory over Georgia State Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.

Kyle Williams

The NCAA has announced Tuesday that all 19 of WKU’s athletic teams have recorded a score of at least 946 on the Academic Progress Rate, or APR, which is 16 points above the NCAA-mandated score of 930.

The APR is a tool used by the NCAA to monitor each university’s academic success rate each semester by tracking the academic status of each scholarship athlete.Recent scores are an average of the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.                

Teams failing to score at least 930 experience repercussions such as, possible postseason bans, reduced scholarship and/or reduced practice time.

“Congratulations to our student-athletes and coaches on these outstanding APR numbers,” Director of Athletics Todd Stewart said. “Every WKU sport has a multi-year APR above 945, and this past year marked the first time since the APR variable was introduced that every WKU sport exceeded a 930 APR in the same year. Our coaches recruit true student-athletes, and our athletes exhibit the same dedication in the classroom that they do in their sports.”

The WKU volleyball team recorded a perfect APR score of 1,000, making WKU just the seventh Sun Belt Conference school to notch a perfect score. 10 other teams scored above a 970.

More WKU student-athletes have been honored by the SBC for academic achievement than any other student-athletes within the league for nine consecutive years.