So, what exactly is the APR and what does it mean?
It was born out of the Student-Right-to-Know-Act established by Congress in 1990, which included the mandatory publication of graduation rates. Initial graduation rates reported by many NCAA institutions were poor, requiring the NCAA to develop a new methodology for evaluating the academic progress of its member institutions.
What came of this was the APR, a metric that takes into account the eligibility and retention of every student-athlete on a given team. Each player is assigned a point per semester for remaining academically eligible and additional points are added each semester if he or she graduates or remains in school.