The NCAA released a preliminary academic report to all of its
member institutions earlier this week, and two UCLA teams failed to
make the grade.
Data collected from the 2003-04 academic year for the
NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) revealed that the UCLA
football and men’s soccer teams do not meet the NCAA’s
new academic standards.
No penalties will be implemented until next year, when there is
a possibility that substandard programs could lose
scholarships.
Despite the report’s findings, the UCLA athletic
department does not see this as a sign that its teams need to shape
up academically.
“I do not see this as a serious warning shot,” said
Associate Athletic Director Petrina Long. “The first real
warning shot we’re going to have is with the two-year data
that comes out. This was a snapshot. The one-year data is not what
the study was designed to do.”
The Bruin football and men’s soccer teams are among the
7.2 percent of Division I teams nationwide that did not make the
cutline set by the NCAA.
The APR, which is based on academic progress and graduation
rates, awards one point to students who meet academic-eligibility
standards and another point to students who remain with their
schools. Division I teams are penalized when players transfer, are
academically ineligible, or drop out. The APR is then calculated by
dividing a team’s total points by the maximum points possible
(1,000).
Starting next year, teams that do not achieve a rate of at least
925, the equivalent of a 50 percent graduation rate according to
the NCAA, will be susceptible to penalties.
In the case of football, the low APR can be attributed to the
high rate of players transferring after UCLA coach Karl
Dorrell’s first season. Because the NCAA plans to report the
data on a four-year rolling rate for all sports, UCLA anticipates
football’s APR should increase next year.
“Me being here for that first year was part of this
calculation,” UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell said.
“You are going to have some attrition, you’re going to
have some guys that are disenchanted with the direction of things
and that happens in every program.”