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The NCAA does everything it can to maintain the position that college football players are student athletes. One of the ways they perpetuate this position (or myth, depending on your personal point of view) is with the Academic Progress Rate, or APR scores.
There are scores for each sport, but in this article I will focus only on football, and only on ACC teams (and especially one which goes by the initials VPI & SU).
Here are the football APR scores for all 14 ACC teams, plus Notre Dame, for the 2012-13 school year:
Rank | School | State | Multi-Year |
5 | Duke University | NC | 992 |
16 | Clemson University | SC | 983 |
18 | Georgia Institute of Technology | GA | 983 |
20 | Boston College | MA | 981 |
34 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University | VA | 977 |
50 | University of Miami (Florida) | FL | 972 |
51 | University of Notre Dame | IN | 972 |
60 | Wake Forest University | NC | 970 |
75 | Syracuse University | NY | 965 |
88 | University of Pittsburgh | PA | 961 |
100 | Florida State University | FL | 958 |
113 | University of Virginia | VA | 956 |
133 | North Carolina State University | NC | 950 |
149 | University of Louisville | KY | 947 |
187 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | NC | 938 |
There are a total of 244 schools in this report, so it's impressive that Virginia Tech finished 34th! In fact, VT is on the rise in APR, with a 4-year average of 977 but a score of 982 for the 2012-13 season. According to Andy Bitter, that's the best football APR the Hokies have ever had.
There are certain requirements for these APR scores:
Beginning with 2012-13 championships, teams must earn a minimum 900 four-year APR or a 930 average over the most recent two years to be eligible to participate. For 2014-15 championships, teams must earn a 930 four-year average APR or a 940 average over the most recent two years to participate in championships. In 2015-16 and beyond, teams must earn a four-year APR of 930 to compete in championships.
Duke had the highest ranking of any P5 football school at #5, followed by Northwestern of the Big Ten at #6.
Currently there are no ACC teams which fail to meet the minimum APR requirements. In fact, there is only one P5 conference team which is in any trouble for this - Oklahoma State, which faces a "level one penalty" - reduction of practice time.
Here are the scores for all of Virginia Tech's sports:
Sport (N) | Multi- | 2012 | Percentile | Percentile | All | vs all | vs all | FBS | FCS | Div I (Non- |
Men's Baseball (297) | 975 | 938 | 60th-70th | 40th-50th | 967 | 962 | 978 | 971 | 967 | 964 |
Basketball (346) | 960 | 950 | 50th-60th | 20th-30th | 957 | 952 | 968 | 961 | 955 | 954 |
Cross Country (312) | 993 | 974 | 70th-80th | 70th-80th | 977 | 972 | 986 | 981 | 975 | 974 |
Football (244) | 977 | 982 | 80th-90th | 40th-50th | 951 | 947 | 964 | 957 | 947 | 882 |