Alabama State Football APR Shows Best In The SWAC

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State football program was commended by the NCAA for having the largest single-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) improvement in football in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Alabama State improved its score from 918 at the end of the 2008-09 academic year to a score of 983 for the academic year 2009-10. The highest possible score is 1,000.

“This is a strong statement that Alabama State has made a concerted effort to enhance their athletic academic endeavors, putting as much effort into the academic side as the athletic side in the true spirit of the term ‘student-athlete’,” Alabama State Athletic Director Stacy Danley said. “Football is always more challenging simply because of the numbers involved, so this is indeed a great accomplishment.”

The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a semester-by-semester measure of eligibility and retention for Division I student-athletes that was developed as an early indicator of eventual graduation rates.

Alabama State will receive the FCS Athletics Directors Association APR award at the National Association of Directors of College Athletics Convention in Orlando, Fla. on Thursday, June 16.

“An increase this dramatic shows the strong commitment of not only the athletic academic and compliance departments in terms of monitoring, but also the commitment of the coaching staff and the student-athletes,” Danley said. “Alabama State Athletics is committed to championships on the field of play as well as the classroom.”