PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh had 14 athletic programs –men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, gymnastics, women’s lacrosse women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s track & field, volleyball, and wrestling– improved upon or matched their multi-year Academic Progress Report scores from the 2021-22 numbers as released by the NCAA Tuesday afternoon.
Volleyball and women’s cross country also received Top 10 recognition for ranking in the top 10 percent in their sport for the multi-year score.
In addition, Pitt had 12 programs perform at or above the national average for multi-year rate ending with the 2022-23 academic year. The Pitt basketball program finished 21 points higher than the national average, while football (15), women’s basketball (14), women’s cross country (12), men’s soccer (12), and volleyball also exceeded the national mark by double-digits.
The Panthers volleyball program posted perfect multi-year APR score of 1,000, while eight programs (men’s cross country, men’s swimming & diving, women’s cross country, women’s lacrosse, softball, women’s soccer, women’s swimming & diving, and volleyball) posted single-year scores of 1,000 for 2022-23.
The four-year Academic Progress Rate national average for Division I teams remained steady at 984 this year, as the division marked the 20th anniversary of APR data collection. During those 20 years, overall student-athlete academic success has risen substantially.
Compared with the four-year period prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (2015-16 through 2018-19), the overall national four-year average across all sports increased one point. At the sport level, changes in the national average were small. Compared with pre-pandemic averages, baseball increased 1 point to 978, football fell 1 point to 963, men’s basketball increased 2 points to 968 and women’s basketball decreased 2 points to 981.
Additionally, over the past 20 years, 21,365 former student-athletes have returned to the classroom after exhausting their athletics eligibility to complete degrees and earn APR points for their former team. Nearly 11,000 of these individuals returning to graduate were former football, baseball, and men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes. These student-athletes are typically not counted as graduates in the federal graduation rate or Graduation Success Rate calculations.
Rates are a calculation of each school’s performance for the last four years. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable data at the time of analysis. APRs for each team, lists of teams receiving public recognition and those receiving sanctions are available online through the NCAA’s searchable database.
2022-23 – Pitt Multi-Year APR Scores by Program
Program – Score (National Average) – ACC Rank
Baseball – 966 (978) – 14th
Men’s Basketball – 989 (968) – T-5th
Women’s Basketball – 995 (981) – T-5th
Men’s Cross Country – 992 (984) – T-9th
Women’s Cross Country – 1,000 (988) – T-1st
Football – 983 (968) – 9th
Gymnastics – 996 (994) – 2nd
Women’s Lacrosse – 995 (993) – 6th
Men’s Soccer – 992 (980) – 4th
Women’s Soccer – 988 (989) – T-13th
Softball – 993 (988) – 11th
Men’s Swimming & Diving – 982 (985) – T-9th
Women’s Swimming & Diving – 997 (992) – T-6th
Men’s Track & Field – 957 (974) – 15th
Women’s Track & Field – 979 (983) – 14th
Volleyball – 1,000 (989) – T-1st
Wrestling – 981 (975) – 4th
Bold – improved upon or equalled 2021-22 APR
Source: Matt Plizga/Pitt Athletics
