INDIANAPOLIS—The elite level of academic achievement by Wildcats student-athletes was recognized on a national level Tuesday afternoon with the announcement of this year's NCAA Public Recognition Awards. A total of 14 teams were recognized for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score that ranked in the top 10 percent of their sport nationwide, making this the fourth consecutive year that Villanova has had at least 14 sport programs earn public recognition awards.
The latest data which was revealed on Tuesday spanned the 2015-16 through 2018-19 academic years and showed a number of different areas in which Villanova ranks among the upper echelon of 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 64% of its sport programs recognized with NCAA public recognition awards
- Villanova ranked in the top 10 of all Division I schools in total number of teams recognized
- Villanova had the most public recognition awards of any BIG EAST school
- Villanova had eight women's teams and six men's teams honored in Tuesday's announcement
- 10 of 14 teams earning public recognition have garnered this award for at least four straight years
Villanova had eight women's programs and six men's programs cited for their academic achievement in Tuesday's announcement. The complete list of teams earning public recognition awards includes
baseball,
men's basketball,
men's cross country,
women's cross country,
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 15
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 Villanova programs which have earned public recognition awards most often are
women's track & field (12 recognition awards) and
golf (11 recognition awards).
Villanova is one of just nine Division I schools and the only BIG EAST member to have 14 or more teams recognized in Tuesday's announcement. In the sports of men's basketball and men's lacrosse, the Wildcats were the lone BIG EAST program to be recognized with a public recognition award this year. Additionally, 10 of the 14 Wildcats teams that were honored on Tuesday have earned public recognition awards in at least four straight years. That list is headed by the women's tennis program which has been recognized in each of the past nine years. Rowing has earned an award in eight consecutive years. Also notable is a streak of six straight public recognition awards for women's swimming & diving, a stretch which coincides with the team's consecutive string of BIG EAST titles which began with the 2013-14 academic year.
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 2019 semester was 3.306, marking the 33
rd straight semester spanning more than 16 years in which student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher. One out of every three student-athletes attained a fall semester GPA of 3.5 or higher, while 78 percent had a 3.0 or better mark. There were 382 student-athletes named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a GPA of at least 3.2 for the fall semester.
Villanova Teams Earning APR Public Recognition Awards
Baseball
Men's Basketball
Men's Cross Country
Women's Cross Country
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
