Based on NCAA standards, it takes more than on-field success to be a college football program. A key off-field metric the governing body uses for college football teams is the Academic Progress Rate (APR). Following their failure to meet the standards, three HBCU programs have been banned from postseason play.

Following the release of the latest APR report for the 2024-2025 year, Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, and Mississippi Valley State have each been hit with Level Two NCAA APR penalties. Because each program scored below the required 930, the penalties include in-season and out-of-season restrictions and postseason ineligibility.

The Academic Progress Rate was developed in 2004-2005 by the NCAA to track the academic eligibility, retention, and graduation of scholarship athletes. The idea is to make programs equally accountable for the academic success of their athletes, as teams are penalized if their four-year average does not meet the 930 required score.

Under the NCAA APR structure, each student-athlete earns up to 2 points per term, with 1 point being a reward for staying in school and 1 for being academically eligible. A pattern of academic issues can induce stricter penalties, including losing scholarships and facing practice restrictions. With the perfect score being 1000, the APR is also used as a tie-breaker for bowl game eligibility if there are not enough six-win teams.

Alabama A&M finished with an APR score of 897, which puts them among the lowest in the SWAC. While the program was initially handed a postseason ban and placed under practice restrictions, it filed for a waiver. Hence, the Bulldogs have now announced the approval of their waiver on their official website. Unfortunately, their football performance has not been good enough to give them a postseason appearance over the last four seasons, as they have mostly finished with losing records.

Florida A&M had a score of 918 and would be facing both spring restrictions and a postseason ban. It will be sad news to the new Rattlers head coach, Quinn Fordham Gray Sr., who will be looking to recreate their 2023 season, when they won the national championship in the postseason.

Mississippi Valley State had the lowest of the trio, with an APR score of 894, leaving them with practice restrictions and a postseason ban. It is the second time in a row that the program has been hit with a postseason ban. Truthfully, the Delta Devils would only be affected by the practice restriction, as they have had no business with the postseason lately. The last time they had a five-win season was 2006.

One observable pattern among them is the connection between on-field dominance and APR excellence. With the exception of FAMU, which won the SWAC championship in 2023, poor APR performers have also not been so good on the field.

APR performance of other HBCU programs in SWAC

Jackson State had the best APR score in the SWAC, with 961. The program has only missed out on the postseason once in the last five years, which makes its alignment with the NCAA’s APR standards unsurprising

Prairie View A&M is second-best in the SWAC with 953, while the top three are sealed, with Grambling State having a score of 946. Texas Southern is a close fourth with 938, while Alcorn State scored 934. The lucky Southern University hit the exact 930 mark.

Joining FAMU, Alabama A&M, and Mississippi State Valley are Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 925 and Bethune-Cookman at 914. All of these scores are subject to change, since they are based on a four-year rolling average. But it goes on to reveal how much college programs need to excel on both ends, as there is a synergistic effect between them.