INDIANAPOLIS (5/23/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy Department of Athletics showcased another tremendous period of academic greatness as the Titans were once again above the national threshold in the latest NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) report, released this afternoon.
 
"Our student-athletes continue to do a remarkable job in the classroom," said Melinda Konya, Athletics Academic Coordinator. "Everyone should be proud of what they accomplished away from competition. To have all 19 teams above the NCAA qualifying mark and nine teams at or above the national average shows how strong we are in our commitment to academics and to graduation for all of our student-athletes."
 
All 19 Titan teams posted multi-year scores above the 930 NCAA qualifying mark for the sixth straight year, with one program at a perfect 1,000, three above 990 and nine above 980 in the latest 2016-17 data.
 
The men's fencing team earned the excellent 1,000 score and was one of just 23 programs in the state of Michigan to receive a Public Recognition Award last week.
 
The other Titan programs above 980 were women's soccer (994), men's golf (991), men's cross country (988), women's lacrosse (988), men's soccer (988), women's cross country (987), women's track and field (985), women's fencing (983),
 
Men's soccer ranked second in the Horizon League, while men's cross country and women's track and field was fourth. Women's lacrosse had the second highest mark in the Southern Conference.
 
For the head coaches APR report, Detroit Mercy had six coaches with a perfect 1,000 score for the latest season data in seven different programs in John Conway (softball), Todd Dressell (men's and women's fencing), Guy Murray '89 (men's and women's cross country), Luke LaFave '02 (men's golf), Mike Lupenec (women's soccer) and Aaron Paajanen (women's tennis).
 
Coach Dressell saw both of his teams earn scores of 1,000 for the eighth time. Murray has overseen the women's cross country program post a perfect 1,000 seven times and track and field in three years. Coach Lupenec recorded a 1,000 for the fifth time and coach LaFave for the third.  
 
Division I student-athletes continue to succeed in the classroom, confirmed by a 2-point increase in the Academic Progress Rate. The overall four-year rate increased to 983.
 
Four-year rates for baseball, football and women's basketball each increased 2 points to 975, 964 and 982, respectively. Men's basketball players raised their overall, four-year APR by a point, to 967.
 
NCAA President Mark Emmert celebrated the impact the APR has made on the culture of Division I.
 
"We've seen a remarkable evolutionary shift in Division I over the last 14 years. Administrators, coaches and students all make academic achievement and graduation top focus areas," Emmert said. "The APR is a powerful metric that leads ultimately to more graduates and more student-athletes with better opportunities after college."
 
Since the Division I membership created the Academic Performance Program 14 years ago, more than 16,000 former athletes earned APR points for their prior teams by returning to college after their eligibility ran out and earning a degree. Of those 16,000, more than half participated in football, baseball or basketball — the highest-profile sports in Division I. Those students generally do not count in graduation rates because they earn degrees outside the six-year window allowed by both the federal graduation rate and the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate.
 
Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, chair of the Division I Committee on Academics, praised the academic achievement of Division I student-athletes.
 
"The Committee on Academics is proud of the success of the Academic Performance Program and the growth of the Academic Progress Rate for Division I student-athletes," DeGioia said. "Thousands more college athletes are earning degrees every year because of this program, and those graduates will reap lifelong benefits from their college experiences."
 
The APR, created to be a more real-time measurement of academic success than graduation rates, is a team-based metric through which scholarship student-athletes each term earn 1 point for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating. At schools that don't offer scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.