INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Sun Belt Conference programs continue to shine in the classroom per the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA national office.

In conference-sponsored sports, the Sun Belt posted an overall APR score of 978 with 35 programs achieving perfect scores of 1,000 from data submitted for the 2018-19 through 2021-22 academic years. Old Dominion (Men’s Golf, Women’s Golf, Women’s Tennis and Volleyball) and Troy (Women’s Cross Country, Women's Golf, Softball and Volleyball) boasted four teams each with perfect scores to lead the way for the Sun Belt.

Beach Volleyball posted the league’s highest single-sport APR (997) with six of the eight teams (College of Charleston, Georgia State, Mercer, UNC-Wilmington, Southern Miss and Stephen F. Austin) achieving perfect scores.  

With 10 of 13 programs achieving 1,000s, Women's Golf posted the largest percentage of perfect scores (Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, James Madison, ULM, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy).

NCAA Division I student-athletes continue to achieve classroom success at record-high levels, earning an overall multi-year Academic Progress Rate of 984, an increase of one point over the prior year. Like the overall multi-year rate, the multi-year rates for football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball were consistent or moved by two-or-fewer points. Men's basketball increased by one point to 967, baseball remain constant at 977, women's basketball dropped by one point to 982 and football decreased by two points to 962. 

The APR, created to provide a real-time measurement of academic success rather than the six-year delay with graduation rates, is a team-based metric in which scholarship student-athletes earn one point for each term in which they remain academically eligible and one point for returning to school or graduating. Schools that do not offer athletics aid track the eligibility and retention of their recruited student-athletes within their APR cohorts.

Every Division I athletics program submits data to the NCAA as part of the Academic Progress Rate calculation. The NCAA reports both single-year and four-year rates. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable, member-provided data.