INDIANAPOLIS—The elite level of academic achievement by Wildcats student-athletes was recognized on a national level Wednesday afternoon with the announcement of this year's NCAA Public Recognition Awards. A total of 17 teams were recognized for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score that ranked in the top 10 percent of their sport nationwide, and for the second straight year Villanova led all Division I schools with the percentage of its teams (77 percent) that earned public recognition awards.
The latest data which was revealed on Wednesday spanned the 2014-15 through 2017-18 academic years and showed a number of different areas in which Villanova ranks at or near the top of all Division I programs for the continued academic success of its student-athletes. The following points are just a few of the highlights from the announcement of the public recognition awards:
- Villanova had the highest percentage of its teams recognized of any Division I school (77%)
- Villanova ranked in the top five of all Division I schools in total number of teams recognized (17)
- Villanova is one of six schools to be recognized in men's basketball, women's basketball and football
- Villanova had the most public recognition awards of any BIG EAST school
- Villanova was one of two CAA Football programs to earn a public recognition award
Villanova had 10 women's programs and seven men's programs cited for their academic achievement in Wednesday's announcement. The complete list of teams earning public recognition awards includes
baseball,
men's basketball,
women's basketball,
men's cross country,
women's cross country,
field hockey,
football,
golf,
men's lacrosse,
rowing,
women's soccer,
men's swimming & diving,
women's swimming & diving,
women's tennis,
women's track & field,
volleyball and
water polo.
This is the 14
th year that Academic Progress Rate (APR) data has been collected for Division I schools. The metric provides a real-time measure of a sport program's academic performance based on points earned each semester by student-athletes for their academic standing and retention. A mark of 1000 represents a perfect score. Since the APR program was put into place, the three Villanova programs which have earned public recognition awards most often are
women's track & field (11 recognition awards) and
golf (10 recognition awards).
Villanova is one of just five Division I schools to have 17 or more teams recognized in Wednesday's announcement. The latest data is yet another indicator of across-the-board student-athlete success at Villanova. The overall GPA for Wildcats student-athletes during the Fall 2018 semester was 3.286, marking the 31
st straight semester spanning more than 15 years in which student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher. There were a total of 453 student-athletes (75 percent) with a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a record-breaking 380 selections to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for student-athletes with a semester GPA above a 3.2.
Villanova Teams Earning APR Public Recognition Awards
Sport
Baseball
Men's Basketball
Women's Basketball
Men's Cross Country
Women's Cross Country
Field Hockey
Football
Golf
Men's Lacrosse
Rowing
Women's Soccer
Men's Swimming & Diving
Women's Swimming & Diving
Women's Tennis
Women's Track & Field
Volleyball
Water Polo
