The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2015-16 All-Academic Team of 1,050 student-athletes, and Jackson State University once again earned the institutional Academic Excellence Award as the school with the most honorees.
JSU has 176 student-athletes among the conference’s 10-member institutions who achieved academic success this year.
To qualify for the team, student-athletes must maintain a cumulative grade- point average of 3.0 or better.
Put into effect in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic success of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
Currently, teams must maintain a four-year average APR of 930 or a two-year average APR of 940 to participate in NCAA championships. In 2015-16 and beyond, teams must keep a four-year average APR of 930 to compete in championships.
While the APR is intended as an incentive-based approach, it does come with a progression of penalties for teams that underperform academically over time.
In yet another sign of progress within the conference, eight of the league’s member institutions had at least 100 student-athletes represented on the list, as opposed to seven schools achieving the feat last year.
After Jackson State, the second highest was Alabama State University, with 152. Following them are Arkansas-Pine Bluff (124) and Mississippi Valley State University (122). Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern each had 119 student-athletes honored. Alcorn State (112) and Alabama A&M University (100) also cracked triple digits.
The All-Academic Team is representative of SWAC’s progress, and the accomplishments speak to a shift toward academic success of its student-athletes.