Isaiah Hole
June 17, 2024 12:25 pm ET
If there’s any conference in all of college football that touts academics just as much as it does athletics, it’s the Big Ten.
There’s no other Power Four conference that can match the Big Ten when it comes to academic prestige, as there are multiple schools in the upper echelon in pretty much every college ranking. In fact, in the ballyhooed U.S. News World & Report college list, all but one Big Ten school is in the top 100 across all colleges in the United States.
That’s all good and well, but what about how students do in academics themselves? After all, if Michigan football likes to pitch academics, shouldn’t the players do well in them?
The way that’s determined by the NCAA is through academic progress rate (APR) which determines a program’s cumulative ability to keep players eligible and graduate them. It works like this, according to the NCAA
The APR, or Academic Progress Rate, holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
The APR is calculated as follows:
- Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
- A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.
- In addition to a team’s current-year APR, its rolling four-year APR is also used to determine accountability.
With that in mind, schools have to average a score of 930 or above in order to maintain eligibility. Here is how each Big Ten school scored and how they rank following the 2022-23 school year.
18
Maryland Terrapins
Photo: Isaiah Hole
APR score: 942
College rank: 46
Maryland hasn’t quite dropped to the point of ineligibility, but it’s certainly hovering just above the line. Whether it’s because players in College Park have struggled or those who have departed have been academically ineligible, the Terps have some work to do.
17
Oregon Ducks
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APR score: 942
College rank: 98
The second-lowest-rated school in the Big Ten is also among the lowest in APR. Oregon has had some turnover with the coaching changes from Mario Cristobal to Dan Lanning, but if the Ducks want to chase championships, they will have to get this score up.
16
Penn State Nittany Lions
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15
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APR score: 967
College rank: 35
Illinois is one of the best schools, not just in the Big Ten, but in the country. Its score is on the bottom end of the conference, which could be in part to transfers, but also the difficulty of the school.
14
Nebraska Cornhuskers
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APR score: 972
As the lowest-rated school in the entire Big Ten, Nebraska really needs to get it together. Now, there have been coaching changes, with Scott Frost’s early-season firing in 2022 to Matt Rhule’s hiring later in the year. That certainly created some turnover in the program, which likely contributes to the lower APR score.
13
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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APR score: 972
College rank: 40
Rutgers hasn’t had a coaching change in recent history, so there hasn’t been a mass exodus contributing to the APR score. But it is among the top schools in the country and in the conference, so keeping players eligible may be challenging in New Brunswick.
12
UCLA Bruins
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
APR score: 972
College rank: 15
The second-best school in the conference in terms of academics, UCLA is in the lower half when it comes to graduating players. The coaching change upheaval came after these rankings, so the likely scenario of the lower score is the difficulty of the school.
11
Iowa Hawkeyes
Photo: Isaiah Hole
APR score: 974
College rank: 40
Iowa is one of the better schools in the conference but in the middle of the pack when it comes to APR. There have certainly been some players who have transferred out to other programs, so that could play a factor here.
10
MSU Spartans
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APR score: 974
College rank: 60
Given that former head coach Mel Tucker was extremely active in the transfer portal in both signing and eschewing players, it’s honestly kind of impressive that the Spartans are this high in the rankings.
9
Purdue Boilermakers
Photo: Isaiah Hole
APR score: 976
College rank: 43
There was coaching turnover from 2022-23 going from Jeff Brohm to Ryan Walters, so that could have something to do with it. Known as an engineering school, Purdue also has some tougher concentrations which could play a factor.
8
USC Trojans
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APR score: 976
College rank: 28
One of the tougher schools in the conference, USC also did have a coaching change and thus a lot of transfers in 2022-23.
7
Washington Huskies
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APR score: 982
College rank: 40
A tougher school, multiple coaching changes — there are a lot of contributing factors for Washington as to why it has a lower APR than some of its compatriots. However, it is the top former Pac-12 school joining the Big Ten in terms of APR.
6
Indiana Hoosiers
Photo: Isaiah Hole
APR score: 983
College rank: 73
One of the lower-rated schools in the Big Ten but with a higher APR, Indiana had coaching stability and wasn’t necessarily hemorrhaging transfers like some other schools.
5
Minnesota Golden Gophers
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APR score: 992
College rank: 53
PJ Fleck has done a nice job of keeping his roster eligible academically during his time in Minneapolis.
4
Wisconsin Badgers
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APR score: 993
College rank: 35
One of the tougher schools in the conference, former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst did a good job of getting his players to take academics seriously.
3
Michigan Wolverines
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APR score: 993
College rank: 21
The intersection between achieving on the football field and in the classroom, Michigan isn’t for everybody. Yet, the Wolverines continue to post solid APR numbers year in and year out — except for one period back in the RichRod era.
2
Northwestern Wildcats
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APR score: 996
College rank: 9
The top school in the conference by academics, Northwestern is impressively among the top schools when it comes to academic progress rate. Players leave Evanston either with their degree in hand or transfer in good academic standing. It’s truly a feat given how good the school is.
1
Ohio State Buckeyes
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APR score: 1000
College rank: 43
Gotta give credit where it’s due. Ohio State has consistently improved its academic standing among its peers in terms of US News ranking and now is graduating all of its players. That’s a very impressive feat for a program that gave us a former player who shared that he didn’t come there to play school.
