Being a football factory often comes at the expense of getting things done in the classroom. The NCAA recognized as much an instituted an Academic Progress Rate (APR) in 2003 for member institutions as a way of holding athletic programs accountable for higher learning and not just attending good ‘ole State U for the sake of playing sports or making it at the next level.
There was a lot of hand-wringing and grumbling when APR became a thing, but since then, schools have more or less figured it out and have been pretty good at not falling below the threshold that would result in penalties such as losses of scholarships and more.
Ohio State has long been looked at as a football program that wins at all costs along with some of its Big Ten brethren, but that has been far from the case, especially as of late. In fact, the APR rates for the 2022-2023 academic year were just released publicly by the NCAA and the Buckeyes got a perfect score of 1,000. It’s a rate that only one other program in the country met, and that would be Ivy League member Harvard.
But how do the rest of the Big Ten football programs stack up? Some are still very good, but others didn’t faire so well. Here is a ranking of all of the Big Ten football program’s and their respective APR scores including new members Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC.
Oregon Ducks
Current APR Score | 941
As much winning as Oregon has done as of late, its APR score is in danger territory, most notably because of the attrition experienced under former head coach Mario Cristobal. The program has to turn things around and see scores improve under Dan Lanning.
No. 17 – Maryland Terrapins
Current APR Score | 942
I have to admit, I was a little surprised by this. Maryland is a good academic institution and we haven’t seen a ton of kids leave early for the NFL. The numbers don’t lie though, so there’s a little work to do in College Park.
No. 15 (tie) – Penn State Nittany Lions
Current APR Score | 947
James Franklin once quipped that his Penn State program wasn’t quite “elite” when measuring up against Ohio State after a close loss. It appears his team isn’t elite in the classroom either.
No. 15 (tie) – Illinois Fighting Illini
Current APR Score | 967
Illinois prides itself in its academic standards, but compared to the rest of the Big Ten programs, its football players aren’t progressing towards degrees as you would expect. Head coach Bret Bielema hasn’t had a full four-year cycle there yet, but you have to believe there are conversations about being near the bottom of the league.
No. 13 (tie) - UCLA Bruins
Current APR Score | 972
Apparently, the former Pac-12 teams have some catching up to do when it comes to graduating players now that it is joining the Big Ten. The Bruins haven’t won much inside or outside the classroom compared to the conference it is joining, so new head coach DeShaun Foster has some work to do.
No. 13 (tie) - Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Current APR Score | 972
To add insult to injury, Rutgers hasn’t performed very well on the field or in the classroom when comparing the program against its peers in the Big Ten. There is marked improvement outside of the classroom and time will tell when it comes to players’ journeys towards their degrees.
No. 12 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
Current APR Score | 972
New head coach Matt Rhule can’t be held responsible for this lower-end score just yet at Nebraska, but he’ll have to address it going forward by balancing the rebuild of a program vs. keeping academic standards up.
No. 10 (tie) - Michigan State Spartans
Current APR Score | 974
Michigan State has been a train wreck in and around the game of American Football since Mark Dantonio left — well aside from the one year under Mel Tucker. There is also apparently some work to do with the calculators and protractors.
No. 10 (tie) - Iowa Hawkeyes
Current APR Score | 974
Head coach Kirk Ferentz has been in Iowa City longer than most of those attending Iowa have been alive. He basically owns the place, but I guess I would have expected more in terms of where the program is tracking with its current APR score with that $7 million per year salary and all.
No. 8 (tie) - USC Trojans
Current APR Score | 976
Not bad here for USC, but then again, we are talking about a private institution that is a little harder to get in academically. Still, the Trojans are one of those programs that have historically sent a lot of players to the NFL early, so landing around here is pretty good all things considered. Now, about that defense …
No. 8 (tie) - Purdue Boilermakers
Current APR Score | 976
This is about where I would expect Purdue to be I guess. Middle of the pack with football and middle of the pack in academics. At this point, it’s just a mid program until things change.
No. 7 - Washington Huskies
Current APR Score | 982
Give Washington credit for improving its play on the field while still focusing on getting players ready to graduate with a degree. It’s not easy to do both, and the Huskies have been very good at both. That fits in well with the Big Ten and so do travels to take in the Pacific Northwest for a football game.
No. 6 - Indiana Hoosiers
Current APR Score | 983
Indiana may have struggled on the field throughout its history, but at least right now, it is doing a pretty good job of getting its players to be on pace to graduate. Unfortunately for coaches, it’s the former that’s looked at more than the latter.
No. 5 - Minnesota Golden Gophers
Current APR Score | 992
I don’t know if P.J. Fleck gets enough credit for what he’s been able to do in the Twin Cities. Not only is the program on solid footing with where it is on the field, he seems to truly care about his players’ lives, including a track towards graduation.
No. 3 (tie) - Michigan Wolverines
Current APR Score | 993
While this is a very good score, you’d think the elitist attitude Michigan puts off would result in a better standing. Nobody’s really going to care though because the Wolverines are coming off of a national title, so …
No. 3 (tie) - Wisconsin Badgers
Current APR Score | 993
This is really know surprise. Wisconsin has pretty high academic standards and takes a lot of pride in graduating its players and preparing them for life beyond football. On top of that, as more of a development program that has historically recruited towards a type, there aren’t too many players leaving the program early. We’ll see if that holds under head coach Luke Fickell.
No. 2 - Northwestern Wildcats
Current APR Score | 996
You would expect an institution like Northwestern to have a fantastic APR score and that’s exactly what we’ve seen. Rain or shine, the Wildcats will put schooling first and occasionally field solid teams that win a bushel of games on Saturdays.
No. 1 - Ohio State Buckeyes
Current APR Score | 1000
I can’t express how impressive this is for a school like Ohio State that is a so-called “football factory.” Throw all of the stereotypes about OSU only caring about winning games on the field, etc. because Ryan Day has his players winning a ton of games and also progressing towards degrees. I mean, a perfect score? Only Harvard can boast the same. Let that sink in.
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