From record-setting grade point averages to 100-plus spring semester graduates to Mid-American Conference and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, Northern Illinois University student-athletes continue to excel academically while taking advantage of the educational opportunities provided to them.

The latest example of NIU’s continuing commitment to academic success came earlier this week as once again, all 16 Northern Illinois University programs surpassed the Academic Progress Rate standards set by the NCAA to measure the eligibility, graduation and retention of Division I student-athletes. The 2024 report provides a four-year snapshot of these variables based on annual rates from 2019-20 through 2022-23.

Nine NIU programs recorded an APR higher than or equal to its rate from a year ago, including the Huskie men’s and women’s basketball teams whose APR improved by 14 and nine points, respectively. The NIU men’s and women’s golf and women’s gymnastics teams all posted perfect multi-year APR scores of 1000 while women’s soccer (997), women’s basketball (995) and softball (994) all cleared the 990 mark. In all, 12 Huskie teams have a multiyear APR of 975 or above in the 2024 report

Gymnastics achieved a perfect APR of 1000 for the 10th time overall and ninth time in the last 10 years, men’s golf reached the mark for the third consecutive season as did women’s golf.

For the past 20 years, every Division I sports team across the country has calculated its APR using a simple and consistent formula. Each term, scholarship student-athletes earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. The minimum APR academic standard for each team to be in good standing is 930. All-time APRs for all Division I teams are available online through the NCAA’s searchable database.