Southeast Missouri's men's basketball, women's cross country, women's gymnastics, women's tennis and volleyball teams earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards based on their perfect 1,000 scores in the most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rates.
 
The report is based on NCAA Division I APR data submitted by the institution for the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years.
 
SEMO's men's basketball team was one of just 25 schools in the nation with a perfect score, while the women's cross country, women's gymnastics, women's tennis and volleyball teams were among the top 10% of all squads in their respective sports, as well.
 
"Congratulations to our student-athletes and coaches for continuing to reach high levels of academic success," said SEMO Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Brady Barke. "Their dedication and commitment to academic excellence is to be commended and we are extremely proud of their accomplishments in the classroom year-in and year-out."
 
Division I teams must achieve a 930 four-year APR score without facing potential penalties or documented improvement plans. NCAA members chose the 930 standard because that score predicts, on average, a 50 percent graduation rate for teams at that APR level. Additionally, teams must earn at least a 930 four-year APR to avoid penalties.
 
Every sport at SEMO exceeded the minimum 930 multi-year APR score. Women's soccer (997), women's track & field (993), men's cross country (983), baseball (977), women's basketball (977), softball (970), men's track & field (969) and football (951) are the others.
 
Nationally, the four-year APR national average for Division I teams remained steady at 984 this year, as the division marked the 20th anniversary of APR data collection.
 
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance.
 
APRs for each team are available online through the NCAA's Searchable Database.