INDIANAPOLIS – Six of Eastern Kentucky University's 13 represented sports earned perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores for the 2018-19 academic year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced recently. 
 
This multi-year report is based on data submitted by every NCAA Division I institution for the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years.  For the purpose of APR reporting, indoor and outdoor track & field is combined into one sport and beach volleyball has not accumulated enough data to be represented.
 
These six programs had perfect 1,000 scores for 2018-19:  men's basketball, men's golf, women's cross country, women's golf, softball and women's track & field.
 
The men's golf and women's golf teams tallied perfect 1,000 multi-year APR scores.

Meanwhile, the multi-year APR scores for men's golf (tied) and women's golf (tied) were the highest among all Division I institutions in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  A total of six Eastern Kentucky programs were among the top-4 in the Commonwealth. 
 
Eight of EKU's sports had multi-year APR scores that ranked among the top-4 in the OVC – men's golf (tied 1st), women's golf (tied 1st), baseball (2nd), football (4th), men's cross country (4th), men's track & field (4th), women's cross country (4th), and women's basketball (tied 4th).
 
The Academic Progress Rate is a real-time measure of eligibility and retention of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team.  The goal of the NCAA's academic performance program is improvement, not punishment.  Not only does the program ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams and institutions, but it also provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school.
 
Earlier this month, the NCAA announced that the Eastern Kentucky University men's and women's golf teams was two of 38 programs from across the Ohio Valley Conference to receive a coveted NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Award.  This specific award is given each year to teams that posted multiyear APRs in the top-10 percent of all squads in each sport.