The NCAA has recognized Ohio University’s women’s basketball, women’s cross country and women’s golf teams as the recipients of the NCAA Public Recognition Award. This honor is bestowed on teams with an NCAA Division 1 Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports.

“Ohio University’s student-athletes have demonstrated a strong commitment to both their academic and athletic success,” said Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis. “The standards they hold themselves to is impressive, and recognitions such as this one are demonstrative of that commitment. I could not be prouder of their accomplishments.”

The three programs were among more than 1,300 programs from 321 schools that were recognized by the NCAA. Schools are chosen based on their APR score, an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams.

The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each semester or academic term and provides a clear picture of the ongoing academic performance for each team in every sport. All teams must meet an academic threshold of 930 to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.

“OHIO student-athletes are demonstrating year after year that they are as committed to academic success as they are to athletic success,” said Heather Lawrence-Benedict, an associate professor of sports administration. “This recognition should make the entire OHIO campus community proud of the team that is our faculty, students, coaches, athletic administrators and university leadership.”

All three OHIO teams earned Public Recognition Awards for achieving NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rates in the top 10 percent within their sport and for having a perfect 1,000 multi-year rate, which is the result of four perfect single-year scores of 1,000.

"What an honor it is for our scholar athletes and their coaches to achieve this ranking measured by retention and academic eligibility,” said Thomas Vander Ven, faculty athletics representative. “We are proud of the academic successes of our scholar athletes and value how important it is for the community to appreciate the academic commitment of our Bobcat student-athletes."