June 5, 2013

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame ranks number one once again among all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions with 15 of its athletics programs receiving 2013 Academic Progress Rate public recognition awards, as announced today by the NCAA, honoring Division I sports teams for their latest multi-year APR scores.

Duke University also had 15 programs honored, tying Notre Dame for the top spot in the FBS subset.

These 15 Irish teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. In their seventh year, the public recognition honors are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. These awards are based on APR numbers that represent the combination of scores from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years.

Here are the 15 Notre Dame programs honored this year for multi-year achievement:

• Men’s Sports (11): baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track & field.

• Women’s Sports (4): cross country, golf, softball, and swimming and diving. Notre Dame’s 15 recognized sports this year follow two consecutive years (2012 and 2011) that a program-best 17 Irish teams were honored with the award. The NCAA recognized 15 Notre Dame programs in 2010 after 14 programs were honored in 2009. Eleven Irish teams earned recognition each of the previous two years, in both 2007 and 2008.

Here are the FBS institutions that ranked in the top 10 this year, in terms of programs honored: 1. (tie) Notre Dame, Duke 15; 3. Northwestern 14; 4. (tie) Boston College, Stanford 13; 6. (tie) Penn State, Vanderbilt 8; 8. Rice 7; 9. (tie) Texas, Illinois, Ohio State 6.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes both retention at an institution and academic eligibility in its calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.

The effort is part of a public-recognition program the NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved in January 2006. Notre Dame has received public recognition awards each of the eight years of the program.

Full multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports team, including access to postseason play and penalties for low-performing teams, will be released on June 11.