June 20, 2012

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - While Purdue student-athletes now have outperformed the general student body for 30 consecutive semester - 15 years - the Boilermakers' academic performance in two national measurements is impressive, as well.

The NCAA announced today that all 20 Purdue teams (indoor and outdoor track and field are counted separately) are above the new 930 Academic Progress Rate (APR) cutoff.

Moreover, 14 of the squads maintained or improved their multi-year rate from a year ago, including men's basketball (995 vs. 954), women's basketball (981 vs. 972), football (950 vs. 939) and volleyball (remained 1,000). Seven teams had perfect 1,000 scores for the current year: men's basketball, men's golf, women's golf, women's swimming and diving, men's tennis, women's tennis and volleyball.

The APR, now in its eighth year, measures the eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes completing on every Division I sports team. The most-recent APR scores are multi-year rates based on the scores from the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.

A year ago, men's golf fell just short of the then-cutoff of 925 with a 920, the result of several transfers among a small roster. That squad now stands at 962.

Last week, the volleyball team received its seventh consecutive public recognition award for posting a multi-year APR score in the top 10 percent of its sport. Men's basketball likewise was recognized with a 995 score.

"Purdue fully supports the NCAA mission of academic reform," director of athletics Morgan Burke said. "We have demonstrated over the past several years that our academic enhancement plans yield positive results. While we believe that a continued critical assessment of the impact of transfer students who leave while eligible is needed, we are pleased that all our programs are comfortably above the new threshold."

Meanwhile, the Graduation Success Rate of Purdue student-athletes has improved from 77 percent to 78.4 percent and is on track to hit 80 percent in 2013. Overall, if a student-athlete completes his/her eligibility at Purdue, 90 percent graduate.