Eleven Butler Teams Receive NCAA Academic Recognition

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Butler University ranked as one of the top schools in the nation when the NCAA released its list of Public Recognition Awards on Thursday, June 14.  A total of 11 Butler teams were honored for achieving a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the top 10 percent of their Division I peers.

Butler teams cited for academic success were men’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s soccer, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s tennis, women’s indoor track and field and women’s outdoor track and field.  The 11 honored teams were the second-highest total for Butler in the seven-year history of the NCAA academic reform program.

“These teams prove that it is possible to not only balance academic and athletic commitment, as most student-athletes do, but to exceed standards and post outstanding academic scores,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said.  “The drive and determination shown in the classroom and on the field by these men and women represent what it means to be an NCAA student-athlete.”

Butler ranked in the top five percent of all Division I schools in number of teams honored.  Only 15 of the 347 Division I institutions had more than 11 teams recognized, with Dartmouth (23) leading the way.  Butler had the highest number of teams honored among schools in the Horizon League. Butler's total of 11 honored teams was also the highest in the Atlantic 10.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship.  The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance.

A total of 954 teams from 263 schools were recognized by the NCAA.

Multiyear APRs for all Division I sports teams, including the teams receiving public recognition, will be announced on June 20.