INDIANAPOLIS (6/14/2022) -- The University of Detroit Mercy Department of Athletics saw another year of academic success as the NCAA released its latest Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) report this afternoon.
Detroit Mercy had 16 programs post multi-year scores above the 930 NCAA qualifying mark with six tying or exceeding the national 984 standard and two registering perfect scores for the current period of the 2017-18 academic year through the 2020-21 academic year.
"Detroit Mercy student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom, despite the challenges of the pandemic," said
Steve Corder '98, Assistant Athletic Director for NCAA Compliance. "All Titans should take pride in our continued academic success. Detroit Mercy and the Department of Athletics' commitment to academics and graduation is once again reflected in the most recent report."
The men's and women's cross country teams collected the perfect 1,000 scores, while women's lacrosse (993), women's golf (992) and men's soccer (987) were above the national standard. Men's golf tied the national average with a 984 and women's soccer was just below it at a 983.
For the head coaches APR report, Detroit Mercy had five coaches with a perfect 1,000 score for the latest season data in six different programs in
Guy Murray '89 (men's and women's cross country),
Todd Dressell (men's fencing) and
Dwayne Hicks (women's lacrosse) and former coaches Larry Hamilton (women's golf) and Eric Taurence (men's golf).
Overall, despite having to deal with the many challenges of recent years, Division I student-athletes continue to perform well in the classroom. The national four-year Academic Progress Rate is 984, up 1 point from the last publicly reported rate in May 2020. The public announcement of APRs returned after a one-year hiatus. This spring, the Division I Board of Directors approved the continual suspension of APR penalties for an additional year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it supported the public release of the APR data.
Each academic year, every Division I sports team across the country calculates its APR using a simple and consistent formula. Each term, scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for remaining eligible and 1 point for staying in school or graduating. For schools that do not offer scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
The Academic Performance Program has established an essential framework for academic excellence. The program provides measurable goals to ensure schools are fulfilling their commitment of equipping student-athletes with the tools and resources necessary to achieve academic success.
The minimum APR academic standard for each team is 930. Typically, teams that scored below the benchmark would have to face penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics. However, due to the current penalty suspension in place, teams will not be subjected to penalties this year. Last year, APR data was not released publicly, and penalties were not assessed.
"The APR data continues to demonstrate the high level of academic achievement of our student-athletes and teams, and their resiliency to excel through a global pandemic and instability in the intercollegiate landscape," said Division I Committee on Academics chair Dianne Harrison, president emerita at California State University, Northridge. "The APR has been and continues to be a valuable real-time tool that provides us with an opportunity to identify and work with schools that may need additional assistance to improve their academic support services. Overall, the Academic Performance Program furthers the NCAA's commitment to academic excellence and integrity and the public release of this APR data while penalties are suspended is a reasonable interim step."
