INDIANAPOLIS – Nine Austin Peay State University athletics programs increased or maintained their academic success, according to the latest NCAA Academic Progress Rates (APR) released Wednesday.

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility, graduation and retention of each scholarship student-athlete. Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face consequences, such as practice restrictions and restrictions on postseason competition. Rates are based on the past four years' performances. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on the scores from the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

Certainly the biggest highlight on the board goes to women's golf, which maintained a perfect 1000 APR for the second year in a row. The Lady Govs received public recognition for their perfect score last week.

Five programs – men's golf, men's tennis, women's soccer, women's indoor track and women's outdoor track – raised their four-year averages during the last scoring period. The women's outdoor track program showed the biggest improvement, jumping 10 points (960 to 970), with men's golf (949 to 958) and women's indoor track (958 to 967) each jumped nine points.

Women's cross country, women's golf, women's tennis and volleyball each maintained their scores from the previous year. Since the 2010-11 academic year, seven of Austin Peay's 15 programs have seen their APR rise.

The Governors football posted the second-best APR in the Ohio Valley Conference, with their 956 behind only Tennessee Tech's among conference programs. The women's basketball team's 985 was third behind Belmont (991) and SIU Edwardsville (990).

According to published rolling six-year graduation numbers, Austin Peay is graduating 76 percent of student-athletes on federal aid, more than double the overall institutional numbers and above the overall institutional graduation rate of every OVC school.

"We're really happy with the outstanding performance by some of our programs," said Austin Peay Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe. "However, we are always looking for opportunities to improve. Our overall APR is above the mandated cut-lines, but we're not satisfied. A culture of excellence in the classroom is measured by teams maintaining APR scores that are ranked in the top third of the conference."

Four-Year Academic Progress Ratings since 2010-11