James Franklin Addresses Penn State's Academic Progress Rate

The football team's APR fell for the second consecutive year. Franklin said Penn State will 'spend a lot of energy and resources' toward restoring it.

Penn State coach James Franklin said the athletic department will devote "a lot of energy and resources" toward restoring the football program's academic progress rate after recording its lowest single-year score in more than a decade.

Penn State football recorded an APR of 914 for the 2021-22 academic year, the lowest among Big Ten football teams, according to a report published by Spotlight PA. The football team's APR fell in each of the past two academic years. The team recorded a perfect single-year APR of 1,000 in 2018-19. The NCAA did not release APR rates for the 2019-20 academic year because of COVID.

The NCAA calculates APR based on a system that awards one point per eligible athlete and one point for athletes who remain in school or graduate. The NCAA then calculates a four-year average that it uses to determine potential athletic penalties, including postseason ineligibility. Teams must maintain a four-year APR of 930 or higher to avoid penalties. 

A four-year APR roughly equals a graduation success rate of 50 percent, according to the NCAA. Penn State's most recent four-year  football APR was 958. The NCAA will resume academic performance penalties for the 2024-25 seasons after suspending them during the COVID pandemic. According to Spotlight PA, Penn State's 2022-23 APR would have to fall below 900 for penalties to be possible.

Earlier this year, the NCAA said that some single-year APRs dropped  because of decreased eligibility rates in sports. The four-year APR in college football fell 2 points to 962. In 2020, some college administrators told Sports Illustrated that the NCAA's formula required tweaking to account for new transfer policies.

Asked at his weekly press conference about Penn State's football APR rate, Franklin called it a priority.

"First of all, everybody knows how important academics are to Penn State, the university as a whole," Franklin said. "When I'm saying that, I'm talking about obviously in the athletic department, then with our football program, both present day and from a historical perspective. Something that we take tremendous pride in and is very, very serious to us. To your point, we've historically been really good in that. I think the year before COVID we had a perfect APR. It's something that we take a lot of pride in. Obviously we're going to spend a lot of energy and resources on getting it back to where we want it to be.

"[Penn State Athletic Director] Pat [Kraft] is aligned on that. I'm aligned on that. So is our staff. We take a lot of pride in it, and we'll get it right. I think the last thing I'd say, though, is ultimately if you look at our graduation rates, our graduation rates have really been good."

Penn State's most recent four-year football graduation success rate was 89 percent. The Football Bowl Subdivision average was 82 percent.

WATCH what James Franklin says about Penn State Football’s APR (academic progress rate) score of 914 in 2021-22 — lowest in the B10. PSU’s APR score over the past 4 years ranks second-lowest in the conference. pic.twitter.com/LKrlLb7AUb

— Mike Poorman (@PSUPoorman) August 29, 2023

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.

Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.