JSU athletics receive favorable APR scores, ninth consecutive year

For the ninth straight year, the Jackson State University Division of Athletics received favorable NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores, and no JSU teams were placed in the NCAA penalty structure.

Penalties arise when a team’s scores fall below 930. All of JSU’s 16 sponsored sports are eligible for post-season play heading into the 2019-20 academic year. As an athletic department, JSU finished with a 981.

Men’s cross country, men’s tennis and women’s bowling each earned a score of 1000 and was publicly recognized by the NCAA.

Ashley Robinson, vice president and director of athletics at JSU, applauded Tiger student-athletes for their continued dedication in the classroom, as well as on the court and field of competition.

“Our student-athletes continue to raise the bar each and every year, in conjunction with our athletics academic enhancement staff who in my opinion is the best in the nation,” Robinson said. “We have total buy-in from the entire campus – from the president’s office on down. I think all of those elements play a huge role in terms of our APR scores and why we are a model NCAA program.”

In addition, five of JSU’s Division I sports lead the SWAC in APR scores: football, men’s cross country, men’s tennis, women’s bowling and women’s soccer.

Jackson State is one of the leaders in the area of APR among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and limited resource schools. According to the latest APR reports, JSU’s single-year Academic Progress Rate for limited-resource schools has increased from 939 to 981 since 2010.

Every Division I sports team throughout the nation calculates its APR each academic year, like a report card. Student-athletes on scholarship earn one point each semester for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. At schools that don’t offer scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked. Rates are an average of each school’s performance for the past four years.