Pioneer Athletics Achieves Highest APR Score Since 2017
5/8/2026 1:00:00 PM | General
Eighteen programs earn perfect 1,000 APR scores for 2024-25
Fairfield, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics posted an all-time best 993 Academic Progress Rate (APR) across all programs for 2024-25, the NCAA announced as part of data released on Tuesday (May 5).
An impressive 18 SHU programs posted perfect 1,000 scores in 2024-25, including baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's fencing, men's golf, men's lacrosse, men's volleyball, men's wrestling, women's basketball, women's bowling, women's cross country, women's fencing, women's golf, women's ice hockey, softball, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving and women's tennis. The 18 teams with a perfect score is the most since 20 teams did so in the 2016-17 data release.
Following the release of this most recent data, the Pioneers multi-year APR stands at 986, while six teams sport a perfect 1,000 multi-year APR, including men's golf, women's bowling, women's golf, women's ice hockey, women's swimming and diving and women's tennis. Additionally, those six teams all received APR Public Recognition Awards.
Highlights from the 2024-25 APR Data (20th NCAA Release of Year-by-Year APR Data)
- Baseball earned its first perfect score since the 2016-17 release.
- Men's basketball posted its first 1,000 for the first time since 2021.
- Men's cross country and men's fencing posted a 1,000 for the second-straight year.
- Men 's golf earned a perfect score for the sixth-straight year.
- Men's lacrosse posted its first 1,000 for the first time since 2021.
- Men's volleyball posted its first 1,000 since the 2022 season.
- Men's wrestling earned a perfect score for the third-straight year.
- Women's basketball, women's cross country and softball all posted a 1,000 for the second-straight year.
- Women's bowling earned a perfect score for the fourth-straight year.
- Women's fencing posted its first 1,000 for the first time since 2021.
- Women's golf posted a perfect score for the fourth-straight year.
- Women's ice hockey holds the record for the Pioneers, earning a perfect 1,000 for the ninth straight year dating back to the 2014-15 release.
- Women's Soccer posted a 1,000 for the first time since 2019.
- Women's swimming and diving posted a 1,000 for the fourth consecutive release.
- Behind only women's ice hockey, women's tennis holds the second longest streak with a perfect score, dating back seven years to the 2016-17 release.
About the APR (from the NCAA)
Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
Each academic year, every Division I sports team's APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and 1 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.
