All of LSU’s 20 varsity sports are clear of any penalties in the annual report of Academic Progress Rates (APR) released Wednesday by the NCAA. The ratings released this week by the NCAA are part of the NCAA’s continuing academic reform efforts.
 
The APR is a point system based on scholarship athletes’ eligibility and retention for a pre-determined time period. Points are awarded each semester for academic eligibility and retention, with two points possible per semester per student-athlete.
 
“It is important for our student-athletes to be as successful in the classroom as they are in competition,” said LSU director of athletics Joe Alleva. “I am proud of our student-athletes for their performance in the classroom and equally pleased we have coaches that emphasize the importance of academic success to go hand in hand with athletic accomplishment.”
 
NCAA sports falling below an established cutoff point are subject to penalties including scholarship reductions. A perfect APR score is 1000 and the cutoff point for potential penalties is 925. Of LSU’s 20 varsity sports, 19 scored above the 925 mark, and all but one scored above 940.
 
Women’s golf scored the highest among LSU sports with a perfect score of 1000 for the four-year period dating back to the 2004-05 academic year. The women’s golf team is one of only 10 sports teams in the SEC that received public recognition from the NCAA for finishing in the top 10 percent in the nation in its respective sport.
 
In addition to women’s golf, other LSU teams with APR scores of 970 or above include women’s cross country at 987, women’s tennis and volleyball at 986, gymnastics at 985, men’s golf at 983, men’s swimming at 980, men’s tennis at 979, men’s cross country at 976 and women’s swimming at 971.
 
The baseball team was LSU’s only sport cited for falling below the 925 mark for the four-year period dating back to the 2004-05 academic year, just missing the cutoff with a score of 921. Baseball will incur no penalties because no baseball student-athletes left LSU prior to the expiration of their eligibility with insufficient academic standing.
 
By posting an APR of 1000 for the 2007-08 athletic year, baseball has improved its historical APR score from 905 and 908 the last two years to 921 this year.