In past years Notre
Dame was always among the top performers in the NCAA's graduate-rate
reports. Under a new formula designed to track student athletes'
academic progress toward a degree, the University doesn't shine
quite as brightly. But it's apparently no cause for concern.
All 22 Irish athletic
programs easily exceeded the new Academic Progress Rate (APR)
minimum standard of 925, and 13 Notre Dame teams scored a perfect
1,000. But Notre Dame's overall APR of 979 wasn't all that far
above the national average for Division I-A (big-league football)
schools, 944.
The explanation,
according to a Notre Dame press release, is that Notre Dame's
APR would be substantially higher if the University certified
academic eligibility using the NCAA's process rather than its
own, more stringent, standard. If it took the NCAA's approach,
the release said, Notre Dame's published rate would jump above
990.
Athletic Director
Kevin White said, "We realize that the higher standards to which
we subscribe will adversely affect our APR on occasion, but we
will not use that as an excuse to reduce our standards in any
way."
Beginning next year, programs that fail to post an APR of at
least 925 will be barred from replacing a scholarship athlete
who leaves school while academically ineligible. Programs with
chronically poor academic records (based upon a rolling four-year
rate) ultimately will be barred from postseason competition in
addition to losing scholarships.
(January 2006)
