With the NCAA men’s basketball tournament underway and March Madness in full swing, we decided to take a look at one way the NCAA evaluates Division I sports teams for academic integrity. About six years ago, the National Collegiate Athletic Association devised, developed, and implemented a “scorecard” for keeping track of how Division I sports programs were doing in terms of graduation rates. The Academic Progress Rate system was launched in 2005 to “predict” the graduation rate of teams playing in the NCAA. The APR is meant to be a predictive index of any given team’s overall progress toward graduation. The score is calculated by combining the eligibility and retention rates of a particular NCAA Division I team. Teams are given a score based on a 1,000 point system. Any team with a score under 925 (which translates to a 50% Graduation Success Rate) may be penalized by losing scholarships and facing restrictions on practice time and competition eligibility.

Earlier this month, as many of us were filling out brackets and trying to decide which teams would be sent home by a loss in the tournament, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was pointing to teams he felt shouldn’t be competing in the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament at all. Mr. Duncan pointed out that 10 teams in the 68 team field had APRs below 925. Those teams, argued Mr. Duncan, should not be eligible to participate in the NCAA tournament. A spokesman from the NCAA stopped short of agreeing with Mr. Duncan, saying “We agree we want better academic performance, especially for teams playing in the postseason.” Under the current NCAA APR penalties guidelines, a team would have to receive an Academic Progress Rate below 900 for three consecutive years before being stripped of eligibility for postseason play.

While the NCAA is sometimes forced to levy penalties for underperforming teams, the organization is also quick to honor those programs with the highest APR scores in each sport. Each year, the NCAA announces Public Recognition Awards for schools with APRs in the top 10% of each Division I sport. This year, 17 of the 68 teams invited to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament received this honor from the NCAA.

Here are lists of the teams Mr. Duncan would have liked to have seen ruled ineligible for the tournament, along with the 17 teams receiving the Public Recognition Award from the NCAA:

If you would like to see how your how favorite schools stack up, WiseChoice offers in-depth information on academics, graduation rates and student satisfaction for thousands of schools nationwide. Learn more by registering at WiseChoice today!

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