BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League continues to lead the 32 NCAA Division I conferences in Academic Progress Rate (APR) and retention trends by conference. In the latest release of data by the NCAA, the League is first in APR (996), tied for first in retention (996) and second in eligibility trends (996).
“The ultimate measure of success is graduating from a Patriot League institution, so to continue to lead the nation in student-athlete retention and academic progress trends is an affirmation of that dedication,” Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel said. “Our coaches and institutions are deliberate in recruiting and supporting student-athletes that are committed to academic and athletic excellence.”
The Patriot League had 179 of its 194 teams score at or above the national average multi-year APR of 984, an improvement of seven teams from last year’s information. The APR data also provided a multi-year national average for each sport, which ranged from 958 to 994. The League had a total of 169 teams finish at or above the national average per sport, with every League team finishing at or above their respective mark in baseball, football, men’s swimming and diving, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s rowing and women’s track and field.
Eighty-two programs received a perfect APR score of 1,000, an increase of seven teams from a year ago and a 14-team increase over two years. Holy Cross had a League-best 15 teams with perfect multi-year APR scores, while Lehigh (12) and Lafayette (11) finished second and third, respectively. Bucknell and Colgate tied with nine teams receiving perfect multi-year APR scores. Loyola Maryland (8), Boston University (7), American (5), Army West Point (4) and Navy (2) each had multiple teams with perfect multi-year APR scores.
The Patriot League’s member institution athletic programs continued their academic excellence, with more than 92 percent of League teams, a four-percent increase from last year, posting an Academic Progress Rate (APR) score at or above the national average of 984.
The League is second in the FCS in APR (984), eligibility (985) and retention (983) trends by a conference for its football programs. The Patriot League’s men’s basketball programs tied for first in eligibility (1,000), second in APR (996) and fourth in retention (991) trends, improving in all three marks from last year’s numbers. The League’s women’s basketball teams tied for first in eligibility (1,000), ranked third in APR (998) and fourth in retention (996) trends. All information is based on data available for the 2023-24 academic year.
The APR, created to provide more of a real-time measurement of academic success than graduation rates offer, is a team-based metric where scholarship student-athletes earn one point each term for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. For schools that do not offer scholarships, only recruited student-athletes are tracked. Every Division I program across the nation calculates its APR each academic year, similar to a report card. The most recent APR scores are multi-year rates based on the scores from the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable data at the time of analysis.
For more information, visit the NCAA APR release. To view the data by conference, school, sport and year, visit the
NCAA APR Searchable Database.
2023-24 APR Public Recognition Awards (88)
APR Public Recognition honors teams earning multi-year APRs in the top 10 percent of all NCAA squads in each sport.
Baseball (3): Army, Holy Cross, Lafayette
Field Hockey (4): Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh
FCS Football (3): Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown
Men’s Basketball (4): American, Boston University, Colgate, Lehigh
Men’s Cross Country (5): Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Men’s Golf (6): Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Men’s Lacrosse (2): Colgate, Holy Cross
Men’s Soccer (2): Bucknell, Holy Cross
Men’s Swimming and Diving (5): American, Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Men’s Tennis (3): Boston University, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Men’s Track (4): Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh
Softball (3): Army, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Women’s Basketball (6): American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Women’s Cross Country (8): Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Women’s Golf (4): Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Navy
Women’s Lacrosse (3): American, Holy Cross, Lafayette
Women’s Rowing (3): Georgetown, Loyola Maryland, Navy
Women’s Soccer (1): Lehigh
Women’s Swimming and Diving (5): American, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh
Women’s Tennis (6): Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Loyola Maryland
Women’s Track (4): Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Women’s Volleyball (4): Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Loyola Maryland
Additional Teams with APR Public Recognition From Full-Member Institutions (6)
Men’s Gymnastics (1) – Navy
Men’s Water Polo (1) – Bucknell
Men’s Wrestling (1) – Bucknell
Mixed Rifle (1) – Army
Women’s Ice Hockey (2) – Boston University, Colgate
Patriot League Teams Posting Perfect Multi-Year APR Scores (82)
Baseball (2) – Holy Cross, Lafayette
Field Hockey (4) – Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Men’s Basketball (3) – American, Colgate, Lehigh
Men’s Cross Country (5) – Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Men’s Golf (6) – Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Men’s Lacrosse (3) – Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette
Men’s Soccer (1) – Bucknell, Holy Cross
Men’s Swimming and Diving (5) – American, Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Men’s Tennis (2) – Boston University, Loyola Maryland
Men’s Track & Field (4) – Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh
Softball (3) – Army, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Women’s Basketball (6) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh
Women’s Cross Country (8) – Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Women’s Golf (4) – Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Navy
Women’s Lacrosse (3) – American, Holy Cross, Lafayette
Women’s Rowing (3) – Georgetown, Loyola Maryland, Navy
Women’s Soccer (1) – Lehigh
Women’s Swimming & Diving (5) – American, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh
Women’s Tennis (6) – Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Loyola Maryland
Women’s Track & Field (4) – Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland
Women’s Volleyball (4) – Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Loyola Maryland
Additional Teams with Perfect APR Scores From Full-Member Institutions (6)
Men’s Gymnastics (1) – Navy
Men’s Water Polo (1) – Bucknell
Men’s Wrestling (1) – Bucknell
Mixed Rifle (1) – Army
Women’s Ice Hockey (2) – Boston University, Colgate
Teams Finishing At or Above Multi-Year National Average Per Sport – PL Totals – 169 Teams
Baseball (6) – Army, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy (Note: Baseball Avg. = 979)
Field Hockey (6) – Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh (Note: FH Avg. = 989)
Football (7) – Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh (Note: Football Average was 964 – 969 (FBS) and 958 (FCS))
Men’s Basketball (10) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: MBB Avg. = 968)
Men’s Cross Country (9) – American, Army, Boston University, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: MXC Avg. = 984)
Men’s Golf (6) – Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland (Note: MGolf Avg. = 988)
Men’s Lacrosse (8) – Army, Boston University, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: MLAX Avg. = 988)
Men’s Soccer (8) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Navy (Note: MSoccer Avg. = 981)
Men’s Swimming & Diving (10) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: MSwim&Dive Avg. = 985)
Men’s Tennis (6) – Army, Boston University, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: MTEN Avg. = 987)
Men’s Track & Field (8) – American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy (Note: MTrack&Field Avg = 975)
Softball (6) – Army, Boston University, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh (Note: Softball Avg. = 988)
Women’s Basketball (9) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy (Note: WBB Avg. = 982)
Women’s Cross Country (10) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: WXC Avg. = 989)
Women’s Golf (4) – Boston University, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Navy (Note: WGolf Avg. = 993)
Women’s Lacrosse (9) – American, Army, Boston University, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: WLAX Avg. = 994)
Women’s Rowing (9) – Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Georgetown, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, MIT, Navy (Note: WRow Avg. = 988)
Women’s Soccer (9) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy (Note: WSoccer Avg. = 989)
Women’s Swimming & Diving (7) – American, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy (Note: WSwim&Dive Avg. = 992)
Women’s Tennis (6) – Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Loyola Maryland (Note: WTEN Avg. = 992)
Women’s Track & Field (10) – American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: WTrack&Field Avg. = 984)
Women’s Volleyball (6) – Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, Navy (Note: WVB Avg. = 990)
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.