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@MizzouAthletics Again One of SEC's Best in Academic Excellence

Mizzou Athletics' student-athletes once again put the Black & Gold at the top of the Southeastern Conference, with many sports programs ranking first in the SEC in terms of academic progress rate (APR).

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Athletics' student-athletes once again put the Black & Gold at the top of the Southeastern Conference, with many sports programs ranking first in the SEC in terms of academic progress rate (APR). In figures announced by the NCAA on Wednesday, Mizzou had four teams ranked No. 1 in the league in APR, and in total, the Tigers ranked second in the conference across all sports.

"Mizzou Athletics' strong academic performance is a credit to the dedication of our student-athletes, academic commitment of our coaches and outstanding work of our academic support and Mizzou Made teams," said University of Missouri Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. "We are also grateful to the outstanding Mizzou faculty members who continue to have an important role in the academic development of our student-athletes and work hard every day to provide the best possible classroom experience for all Mizzou students."

With an average sport program ranking of 5.12, the Tigers were topped only by Vanderbilt (3.77). Mizzou's women's golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball squads all came in at first in the conference in multi-year APR scores.

Those four programs each recently recorded perfect 1,000 APR scores for the 2015-16 academic year, which earned them public recognition by the NCAA last week.

The APR, developed by the NCAA in 2004, 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.

The Tigers' continued quality work in the classroom has been bolstered by MizzouMade, Mizzou's academics and like skills department which serves student-athletes' needs in the areas of academic support and personal development.

Mizzou's sport-by-sport APR scores are:

Men's Programs: baseball (986), basketball (934), cross country (996), football (974), golf (994), swimming & diving (980), track & field (971), wrestling (988)

Women's Programs: basketball (991), cross country (988), golf (1,000), gymnastics (988), soccer (1,000), softball (989), swimming & diving (995), tennis (1,000), track & field (991), volleyball (1,000)

Complete information on the APR can be found on the NCAA's website, www.ncaa.org.