APR By Conference, 2009 Comment Count

Brian

Data ho. Current four-year rates for eligibility and retention plus squad sizes and overall APRs for all of I-A, organized by conference. This was always hard to get out of the PDFs and prevented wide-scale comparisons without enormous amounts of grunt work.

Conference Comparison

Conference APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
ACC 951.4 947.0 950.3 351.3
Big Ten 947.5 932.9 947.4 354.7
SEC 947.3 942.8 938.6 357.4
Pac 10 946.4 935.8 945.0 357.2
Big East 944.5 938.8 942.8 357.6
Mountain West 944.3 929.0 944.8 358.0
Big 12 940.5 927.3 936.0 360.7
CUSA 940.4 929.3 940.8 359.8
MAC 928.8 908.0 937.7 349.2
WAC 928.6 907.7 930.2 349.0
Sun Belt 922.6 895.8 938.8 348.0

The ACC is your APR champion by a healthy margin; the rest of the BCS is virtually indistinguishable from another (and the Mountain West) save for the Big 12, which lags. The MAC, WAC, and Sun Belt bring up the rear, with the Sun Belt's appalling eligibility rate standing as yet another reason that conference is a blight on I-A.

Individual conference numbers after the jump.

WAC

School APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Boise State University 966 957 955 366
California State University, Fresno 948 929 964 347
University of Nevada 945 927 924 368
University of Hawaii, Manoa 935 927 926 350
Louisiana Tech University 934 916 942 355
Utah State University 931 934 920 318
New Mexico State University 905 880 913 360
University of Idaho 905 862 926 350
San Jose State University 888 837 902 327
AVERAGE 928.6 907.7 930.2 349.0

Sun Belt

School APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Troy University 945 934 938 361
Middle Tennessee State University 945 929 943 342
Arkansas State University 941 936 946 358
University of Louisiana at Lafayette 916 863 952 358
Florida Atlantic University 913 879 936 338
University of North Texas 911 889 920 350
University of Louisiana at Monroe 906 867 945 348
Florida International University 904 869 930 329
AVERAGE 922.6 895.8 938.8 348.0

SEC

School APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
University of Georgia 975 965 960 374
Vanderbilt University 969 972 958 338
University of Florida 963 967 947 364
Louisiana State University 960 954 956 367
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa 955 954 943 348
University of Tennessee, Knoxville 949 929 941 353
Auburn University 949 939 946 357
University of Kentucky 948 935 946 359
Mississippi State University 933 949 914 363
University of South Carolina, Columbia 929 924 932 368
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 927 917 917 363
University of Mississippi 910 909 903 335
AVERAGE 947.3 942.8 938.6 357.4

Pac 10

School Apr Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Stanford University 984 982 981 346
University of California, Berkeley 970 961 964 381
University of Southern California 956 937 955 362
University of Washington 954 945 948 349
University of California, Los Angeles 948 938 947 359
Arizona State University 945 925 943 365
University of Oregon 935 945 922 362
Oregon State University 930 921 934 360
University of Arizona 924 904 929 342
Washington State University 918 900 927 346
AVERAGE 946.4 935.8 945.0 357.2

Mountain West

School Apr Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
U.S. Air Force Academy 983 982 984 315
Texas Christian University 962 953 966 372
University of Utah 954 956 931 364
Colorado State University 944 931 947 373
Brigham Young University 942 931 941 376
University of Wyoming 939 932 937 346
University of New Mexico 932 911 933 369
University of Nevada, Las Vegas 929 897 936 366
San Diego State University 914 868 928 341
AVERAGE 944.3 929.0 944.8 358.0

MAC

School Apr Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Miami University (Ohio) 966 964 967 360
Ohio University 949 941 957 366
Northern Illinois University 947 919 959 360
Ball State University 944 931 951 364
Eastern Michigan University 934 910 935 325
Western Michigan University 932 914 931 326
Central Michigan University 930 922 918 354
University of Akron 926 911 927 354
Bowling Green State University 920 900 932 365
Kent State University 919 890 936 349
University of Toledo 908 889 916 325
University at Buffalo 908 856 949 334
Temple University 891 857 912 357
AVERAGE 928.8 908.0 937.7 349.2

Conference USA

School APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Rice University 979 981 971 357
Tulane University 963 969 953 338
University of Central Florida 960 965 943 356
University of Memphis 948 925 958 369
Southern Methodist University 947 941 948 373
University of Southern Mississippi 944 935 940 361
University of Houston 942 937 936 353
Marshall University 939 936 934 361
East Carolina University 932 917 940 356
University of Tulsa 931 913 944 363
University of Texas at El Paso 925 889 921 363
University of Alabama at Birmingham 875 844 901 367
AVERAGE 940.4 929.3 940.8 359.8

Big Ten

School APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Pennsylvania State University 976 957 980 359
Northwestern University 973 969 973 343
Ohio State University 968 962 956 360
Indiana University 957 954 951 351
University of Wisconsin 953 941 949 365
University of Michigan 947 930 945 367
University of Iowa 946 930 947 354
Michigan State University 931 903 943 355
University of Illinois 930 913 937 352
Purdue University 926 899 935 348
University of Minnesota 915 904 905 348
AVERAGE 947.5 932.9 947.4 354.7

Big East

School Apr Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Rutgers 980 983 971 374
Syracuse University 956 957 947 356
University of Connecticut 951 958 939 348
University of Cincinnati 947 933 960 362
University of Pittsburgh 944 929 944 354
West Virginia University 939 932 939 364
University of Louisville 930 919 929 368
University of South Florida 909 899 913 335
AVERAGE 944.5 938.8 942.8 357.6

Big Twelve

School Apr Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
University of Oklahoma 952 948 931 352
University of Missouri, Columbia 951 953 935 355
University of Nebraska, Lincoln 950 954 931 360
Texas A&M University, College Station 946 916 955 378
University of Kansas 941 922 940 351
University of Texas at Austin 939 909 947 370
Oklahoma State University 939 926 928 371
Kansas State University 939 922 930 338
Texas Tech University 935 920 939 368
Iowa State University 935 922 941 359
Baylor University 930 920 931 363
University of Colorado, Boulder 929 916 924 363
AVERAGE 940.5 927.3 936.0 360.7

ACC

School APR Eligibility Rate Retention Rate Squad Size
Duke University 980 988 970 345
University of Miami (Florida) 977 968 969 346
Boston College 970 971 970 337
Wake Forest University 966 960 970 341
Georgia Institute of Technology 957 959 950 345
Clemson University 955 960 943 363
University of North Carolina 947 946 942 381
University of Virginia 937 931 944 339
North Carolina State University 933 927 929 343
Florida State University 932 922 926 360
Virginia Polytechnic Institute 932 922 942 360
University of Maryland, College Park 931 910 948 356
AVERAGE 951.4 947.0 950.3 351.3

Comments

robpollard

March 30th, 2010 at 3:25 PM ^

I'd leave out the 10% rule, as I assume UT football, a Top 5 program, can basically get whomever they want on their team, from valedictorians to mouth-breathers. Their grad rate has been atrocious the last few years. The don't even graduate half their players. True, they likely have 1-3 folks each year who leave early for the NFL, but even accounting for that, they still are at just under 50%. http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/nH8egsr2009/703.pdf (If it means anything to them, Oklahoma is even worse). http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/nH8egsr2009/522.pdf

The Mathlete

March 30th, 2010 at 3:05 PM ^

The Big 12 is a really interesting spread vs. the other BCS conferences. The range for Big 12 schools is only 23 points between first and last. Oklahoma at the top, is the lowest "best in conference" school of the BCS conferences, but Colorado at the bottom is well above all the other conference bottom dwellers with the exception of Maryland in the ACC. Just a very different dynamic in the Big 12.

WolvinLA2

March 30th, 2010 at 4:02 PM ^

We should be higher. It seems that every league has their top academic schools near the top, Duke in the ACC, Stanford and Berkeley in the PAC 10, Vandy is #2 in the SEC, etc. We're even with UNC and UCLA though, very similar schools to ours academically. And we're ahead of UVA. Also, we have the highest squad size in the Big Ten.

bronxblue

March 30th, 2010 at 4:31 PM ^

We're also tied with UNC, which is academically similar to UM. From what I've gathered, the APR basically shows that the NCAA cares enough about academics that it produces a stat that shows that all but the bottom-bottomers athletically graduate most of their kids, or at least keep them for 4 years. I'd much rather the NCAA take into account graduation rates that ignore stuff like transfers (b/c guys like Mallet and Boren would have graduated/gone pro at UM if they had stuck around) and leaving early if the kid is drafted (when I was at UM in the early 00's, classmates were leaving school all the time to work for tech companies out West. They would have graduated, but they had offers today to do what they went to school for). This metric would certainly give you an imperfect metric, but it would probably be more elucidating than knowing FSU doesn't really graduate anyone but that everyone else in college sports seems to do enough to keep kids eligible and/or happy at their current school.

zlionsfan

March 30th, 2010 at 8:07 PM ^

In the mid-oughts, at the company where I worked at the time, there were about 10 of us doing web application development. I think four of us had CS or related degrees, four more had a degree of a different sort but got into programming later, and two didn't even have a degree; like the people you mention at Michigan, these guys left school to, uh, make money. (They were both interns in the group and decided it was better to work full-time and get paid than to work full-time and then go back to school.) One of them went back and got his degree later, I think. Last I heard, the other one hadn't. Of course it's slightly different when the job you're taking a) has nothing to do with your major and b) isn't going to last long enough to make you secure for life (for all but a handful of players, that is), so I suppose the NCAA has a tiny point in wanting players to stay in school, but hell, if someone had come to me during my second senior year and said "hey kid, we'll give you a programmer's full-time job and you can focus entirely on work, and also we'll pay you some good money," the sonic boom created by the speed of my departure from school would have left my desk a mess, but alas, as I've learned from MythBusters, it would probably not have broken any glass at all.

BleedingBlue

March 30th, 2010 at 6:03 PM ^

sooooo...After all the transfers and supposed disaster waste-land, grenade throwing, temper tantrum, cast-off crying babies that the football program has gone through, Michigan's APR is at the Big Ten Average, which is the second highest average in all the Div I football conferences? That really puts in perspective how spoiled we've been.

bluebyyou

March 30th, 2010 at 6:36 PM ^

Although I have seen some general info on retention rates and time it takes to graduate for Michigan,it would be interesting to see similar info for non-athlete students at the same universities with the NCAA APR data. I appreciate that the formula would not be the same, but the numbers might tell an interesting tale.

zlionsfan

March 30th, 2010 at 8:36 PM ^

is someone with a lot of time. Purdue has info here, and as you expect, the formula doesn't work out quite the same, but at least we could use data like this to build comparative data sets. I suspect the other public schools have similar information. (Private schools and Pennsylvania schools do too. Hurrah for the Student Right to Know Act!) To save a click for those less interested, the data on that page covers students entering Purdue during the fall semester of academic years 1998-99 through 2005-06. For 2003-04, the last year for which six-year data would be somewhat available (I'm assuming this counts people in their 11th semester, fall 2009, and does not estimate or otherwise include people in their 12th semester, winter 2010), 71% have graduated so far, 18% withdrew on their own, 9% flunked out, and 2% are still around. After four years, 40% of that group had graduated, pretty much where the average has been over the given time. 66% graduated in five years, which is trending up a bit from the late '90s, and the 71% is also trending up a bit from the late '90s. (Two interesting bits: 1% of the students graduated in two years or less, and 3% of the 2003-04 group flunked out within a year.) Looks like roughly 4-6% of a given class graduates in six years. Woo underachievers! (Or was that just me?) Other schools: Indiana: didn't see breakouts of non-graduates, but they do include all campuses (Purdue's data is just for West Lafayette), and they break it out in lots of different ways. All Michigan state schools (PDF): We learn two things. One, UM rules academically. (OK, we knew that already.) Two, MSU, well, not so much. (35.6% in four years, 65.9% in five - can you say co-op? - and 71.3% in six years.) But it does include national averages, and looking either at UM vs. other state schools or UM vs. national average, Michigan does very, very well looking at the entire student body. Minnesota: At the Twin Cities campus, 66% for students as a whole. Northwestern: Yeah, they're smart and committed. Good thing I didn't go there. Roughly 90% in five years for every year except the incoming class in 1998, which dipped to 83.7%. 90-94% graduate in six years, including those 1998 folks. I smell an accounting error. Ohio State (PDF): Not good in the late '90s. We knew that, right? (I wonder how much of this is due to the size of the school: Texas also had a poor graduation rate, as did Minnesota.) Actually, they've done an excellent job of bringing up their rates, from a four-year rate of 34.9% for 1999 entry to 51.0% for 2005 entry. Their 2003 numbers were 46%, 71%, and 75%. Not bad. Penn State: Classic ASP pages, play with the URL variables to get the data you like. They display by graduation year rather than by entrance year, so in 2009, 63.1% had graduated in four years, 83.2% of 2004 entrants had graduated in five, 84.6% of 2003 entrants in six years. (Branch campuses: much lower.) Wisconsin: This page even has links to "enhanced" graduation, counting students who transferred and graduated elsewhere. For 2003 entrants and normal rates, 50%/79%/82% for four-year/five-year/six-year graduates. I couldn't find Iowa rates, and Illinois' page refused to load, although Google did point me to this PDF, which lists all AAU members and six-year rates for 2001 cohorts.

bluebyyou

March 31st, 2010 at 8:17 AM ^

zlionsfan Good work dude - glad you put in the effort. I looked at all of your source documents. Michigan is definitely a good place to go to school. Somewhat off topic a bit, but the 200 or so majors offered at Michigan doesn't happen in many other places. I really wish the NCAA would put comparable graduation rates of the school alongside their data.

ndifranco

March 31st, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^

Looking at the numbers, the "contenders" for B10 expansion are pretty scattered. (APR, Elig. Rate, Ret. Rate) B10 Avg: 977.5, 932.9, 947.4 PSU: 976, 957, 980 (first in B10) UMich: 947, 930, 945 (mid B10) Mizzou: 951, 953, 935 (#2 B12) Texas: 939, 909, 947 (#6 B12) Rutgers: 980, 983, 971 (#1 BE) Syracuse: 956, 957, 947 (#2 BE) Pitt: 944, 929, 944 (#5 BE) Rutgers would top the B10, and 'Cuse would be 5. Pitt falls to the lower half of the B10. The two B12 "candidates" are mid-pack B10. I wonder if the Presidents consider these types of stats, or if it's all about the eyeballs?