Rich Rodriguez scores a bonus his team’s APR score. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Wildcats had the highest score among Pac-12 football programs in the Academic Progress Rate for the 2011-12 school year, released Tuesday by the NCAA.
Arizona scored 980 out of a possible score of 1,000 in football.
The football team’s APR scores have steadily risen since 2004-05, the first year the NCAA imposed penalties for low scores.
Schools must have a four-year average of 900 — or a two-year average of 930 — to avoid sanctions. The Arizona football program’s multi-year score was 883 for the 2005-06 school year, with its rolling average improving to 956 for 2011-12.
Football coach Rich Rodriguez earns a bonus of $25,000 for his team having a multi-year APR of at least 952, according to a new contract approved in February. This is the first time the football team’s multi-year APR has been above 951.
Here is how the score is determined, from the NCAA:
Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one retention point for staying in school and one eligibility point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by one thousand to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate score.
(Basketball player Grant Jerrett, for example, could earn only one possible point in the APR. He left school for the NBA Draft after his freshman season — so no retention point — but he would earn a point if he left in good academic standing.)
No Arizona sport is in APR danger, with 931 (baseball) being the lowest multi-year average. For UA’s sport-by-sport results, follow this link to the NCAA site.
The football team’s 980 score for the 2011-12 school year ranked just ahead of UCLA (978) and Stanford (977).
Washington was fourth at 974, following by Colorado (969), Utah (964), Oregon (963), Washington State (960), Oregon State (958) and USC (944).
Arizona State was 11th (935), and Cal was last at 923.