NCAA Release

INDIANAPOLIS - Five Missouri State athletic teams have received special recognition from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for excellence in its multi-year Academic Progress Report (APR), the NCAA announced Wednesday (May 3).

MSU's men's golf, men's swimming and diving, softball, women's tennis and volleyball programs have all reached APR public recognition status by accumulating multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all teams at the Division I level.

Each year, the NCAA honors selected NCAA Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multi-year NCAA Division I APR. This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes.

"One of our departmental goals is to win on the field and in the classroom," said Director of Athletics Kyle Moats. "This is a milestone day for Missouri State Athletics to have five teams recognized nationally. I'm very proud of our coaches and the staff in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Academic Achievement Center. They have made it a priority to strive for excellence on and off the field. National recognition personifies what we are trying to accomplish within the department."

Missouri State has received public recognition awards from the NCAA just four times previously: men's soccer in 2014-15, women's volleyball in 2005-06 and 2008-09, and men's tennis in 2004-05.

This year, a total of 1,203 NCAA teams are being recognized for academic performance: 746 women's teams and 457 men's teams or co-ed teams. Scores for programs in the top 10 percent ranged from 984 to a perfect 1,000, with 1,090 teams earning a perfect score.

The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2012-13 through 2015-16 academic years. All Division I teams' APR scores are set to be announced by the NCAA on May 10.