May 17, 2011

The Naval Academy ranks ninth in the country among all 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions with eight of its athletics programs receiving 2011 Academic Progress Rate public recognition awards by the NCAA. Air Force had five programs honored, while West Point had one.

The eight Navy teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. These awards are based on the most recent APR numbers that represent the combination of scores from the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years.

The eight Navy programs honored include: Men's Basketball, Men's Gymnastics, Men's Tennis, Men's Indoor Track & Field, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Rowing and Women's Volleyball.

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 Division I Board of Directors approved in January 2006 - with a record 909 teams honored in 2011

Multi-year APR scores for all Division I sports teams will be announced May 24.

Top FBS Schools For Number Of Programs Honored

1. Notre Dame-17

2. Duke-15

3. Boston College-11

4. Vanderbilt-10

5. Northwestern-9

Penn State-9

Stanford-9

Texas-9

9. Navy-8

10. North Carolina-7