BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) released the Academic Progress Rate (APR) report and list of APR Public Recognition awards for Division I sports through the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year. The national four-year Academic Progress Rate for Division I teams remained steady at 984 for a fourth consecutive year with men’s water polo rating above average with a 985.6 (986) score.
Dave Schnase, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs, said, “As the college athletics landscape continues to evolve, what remains unchanged is the academic success of student-athletes. We applaud the incredible academic achievements of hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and the support provided by their schools. We are committed to supporting the continued advancement of their academic success and athletic pursuits.”
In men’s water polo, six teams of the 28 eligible institutions posted perfect scores (1000) to claim Public Recognition Awards as Bucknell University, Fordham University and George Washington University of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) are joined by California State University-Fullerton of the Big West, Loyola Marymount University of the West Coast Conference and the University of California-Berkeley of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
Among the Top 10, five institutions compete in the MAWPC as the United States Naval Academy (998) and Wagner College (994) rate at No. 7 and 9 (T), respectively. Six of the schools in the Top 10 hail from the East Coast as Harvard University (994) of the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) ties with Wagner for ninth place, while Santa Clara University (997) of the West Coast Conference stands at No. 8.
Mount St. Mary’s University (993) of the MAWPC is tied at No. 11, while NWPC institutions Brown University (992) and Princeton University (992) are knotted at No. 14. Iona University (968) and Long Island University (952) of the NWPC complete the MAWPC/NWPC institutions in the rankings as the Gaels and Sharks stand at No. 25 and 27, respectively.
Among men’s sports, water polo (986) rates sixth in NCAA APR for the four-year period of 2020-21 to 2023-24 behind skiing (993), gymnastics (992), golf (988), lacrosse (988) and tennis (987), while tying with ice hockey (986) and rifle (co-ed/986). Swimming (985), cross country (984), fencing (981), soccer (981), baseball (979), volleyball (979), wrestling (978), track & field (975), football (FBS) (969), basketball (968) and football (FCS) (958) complete the list of sports.
Each academic year, every Division I sports team’s APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn one point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and one point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term. For schools that do not offer athletics scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
This is the fourth consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Division I board approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties. Normal Academic Performance Program operations with program penalties and loss of access to postseason competition were originally scheduled to resume in Spring 2024, but the Division I Committee on Academics decided not to enforce the loss of access to postseason competition for teams that scored lower than 930 last year, instead offering a conditional waiver due to lingering impacts of the pandemic.
However, normal operations are being enforced this year for teams scoring below the 930 benchmark, with strategic penalties that encourage an emphasis and prioritization on academics.
A full list of APRs for each team can be accessed by using the APR searchable database.
| 2023-24 NCAA APR (Men’s Water Polo) | ||
| School | Multi-Year Rate | Conference |
| Bucknell University | 1000 | MAWPC |
| California State University, Fullerton | 1000 | Big West |
| Fordham University | 1000 | MAWPC |
| George Washington University | 1000 | MAWPC |
| Loyola Marymount University | 1000 | West Coast |
| University of California, Berkeley | 1000 | MPSF |
| U.S. Naval Academy | 998 | MAWPC |
| Santa Clara University | 997 | West Coast |
| Harvard University | 994 | NWPC |
| Wagner College | 994 | MAWPC |
| Mount St. Mary’s University | 993 | MAWPC |
| Pepperdine University | 993 | West Coast |
| University of California, Los Angeles | 993 | MPSF |
| Brown University | 992 | NWPC |
| Princeton University | 992 | NWPC |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 989 | Big West |
| University of California, Davis | 987 | Big West |
| California Baptist University | 986 | West Coast |
| AVERAGE | 985.6 | |
| AVERAGE (ALL SPORTS) | 984 | |
| University of Southern California | 984 | MPSF |
| University of California, Irvine | 983 | Big West |
| San Jose State University | 978 | West Coast |
| Stanford University | 977 | MPSF |
| University of California, San Diego | 976 | Big West |
| Long Beach State University | 973 | Big West |
| Iona University | 968 | NWPC |
| U.S. Air Force Academy | 960 | West Coast |
| Long Island University | 952 | NWPC |
| University of the Pacific | 938 | West Coast |
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