CSU Athletics Gets Clean Bill of Health from NCAA

Chicago State AthleticsFor the first time in the department's history, the Chicago State University athletic department will enter the 2014-15 academic year without a team under an Academic Progress Rate penalty, according to the APR data released on Wednesday (May 14) by the NCAA.

APR is a real-time measure of eligibility and retention of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team. Multi-year APR scores released on Wednesday are based on the averages from the single year scores of the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years. A perfect APR score is 1000.

"The goal is to make APR penalties a thing of the past at Chicago State," Chicago State Director of Athletics Dan Schumacher said. "Today's totals show clear progress toward that goal. I'm proud of the accomplishments of our student-athletes."

Seven Chicago State teams - baseball, men's basketball, women's golf, men's indoor track, men's outdoor track, women's indoor track and women's outdoor track - posted the best multi-year APR scores in program history. The total accounts for half of Chicago State's 14 sports. Women's tennis' 987 led all Chicago State teams. Women's basketball's 969 ranked third among Western Athletic Conference women's basketball teams. Men's basketball has improved for five straight seasons and now owns a program high of 932.

Also announced on Wednesday were Chicago State's 2012-13 single-year scores. Four CSU teams recorded perfect single-year 2012-13 scores: men's golf, men's tennis, men's indoor track and men's outdoor track. Volleyball totaled a single-year score of 976.

"The key with APR is that it is a real-time measure," Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services Karen Schiferl said. "These scores show the positive direction the department is heading right now. It's a testament to the work of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the campus as a whole."