The NCAA Academic Progress Rate report was recently released, and the numbers were a mixed bag for HBCU basketball and football programs.
On the promising end, several HBCUs eclipsed the NCAA 930 benchmark score during the 2021-22 academic year.
MEAC co-champion Howard tallied a 962 score, the highest of any HBCU football program. The next highest HBCU was Norfolk State, which also competes in the MEAC, with a 957 score. In the SWAC, Grambling State football led the way with a score of 948, followed by Alcorn State (945) and Southern (944) and Jackson State (944).
North Carolina A&T, which was a member of the Big South, received a 938 score. Tennessee State, as part of the Ohio Valley Conference, got a 923 APR score. Hampton, which plays in the CAA, got a 955 score.
In HBCU men’s basketball, Texas Southern, with a 969 score, topped all Black college hoops programs. In the MEAC, South Carolina State received a 960 score to lead the conference. Hampton and Nort Carolina A&T, which both play in the CAA, received scores of 931 and 925, respectively.
The overall score for all Division I athletes held steady at 984 despite slight decreases in the three most visible sports, according to the latest four-year results released Tuesday.
Nationally, athletes in football and men’s basketball each saw their numbers drop by two points, falling to 962 and 967 overall, while women’s basketball players saw a one-point drop to 982. Baseball scores nationally remained unchanged at 977.
APR scores are based on scholarship athletes earning one point each semester they are academically eligible and another point each semester they remain in school or earn their diploma. Teams that consistently fall below the cut line of 930 are normally subject to penalties, but the NCAA will again impose penalties starting in the 2024-25 school year after the COVID-19 suspension ends.
And unlike the calculation for the federal graduation rate, athletes in good academic standing still earn points if they transfer to another school. Individual team scores can be found on the NCAA’s website.
The NCAA attributes the declines in men’s and women’s basketball and football scores to more players being ineligible to compete during the 2021-22 season instead of those leaving school.
