CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Athletics had a department-record 15 teams earn perfect multi-year scores of 1,000, following today's release of 2022-23 Academic Progress Rate (APR) data by the NCAA.
 
The Crimson's 15 programs with perfect multi-year scores surpassed the previous record of 13 (2004-05, 2005-06 data) and marks the sixth time Harvard has reached the double-digit plateau. The 15 teams (most in Massachusetts, T-2^nd in Ivy League) with perfect multi-year scores are field hockey, football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's skiing, men's and women's soccer, men's water polo, women's fencing, women's golf, women's lacrosse, and women's volleyball.
 
Harvard, additionally, had 16 programs receive the NCAA's Public Recognition Award, given to the teams in the top 10 percent of their sport. The 16 honorees (most in Massachusetts, T-2^nd in Ivy League) represent the most since the 2010-11 data was released when the Crimson had 18 programs receive the award. The 16 recipients are baseball, field hockey, football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's skiing, men's and women's soccer, men's water polo, women's fencing, women's golf, women's lacrosse, and women's volleyball.
 
The four-year APR data ending with the 2022-23 academic year coincides with successful athletic performances by the Crimson. Despite having the 2019-20 campaign interrupted and not competing in 2020-21 due to the global pandemic, Harvard returned to competition in 2021-22, and had 24 teams qualify for their respective national championships and capture 10 conference crowns. A season later, the Crimson had an additional 24 teams appear at their respective national tournaments and pocket 11 more league championships.
 
Each of Harvard's NCAA-sponsored teams earned a multi-year APR score of 970 and above, with a score of 930 representing the NCAA minimum.
 
Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the APR holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
 
Each academic year, every NCAA Division I sports team's APR is calculated using a simple and consistent formula. Scholarship student-athletes can earn one point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and one point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term. For schools that do not offer athletics scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.  
 
This is the third consecutive year of publicly reported APRs after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Division I board approved the release of APR scores but voted to continue the suspension of program penalties. After further review, the Committee on Academics is not enforcing the loss of access to postseason competition for teams that have scored lower than 930. Instead, a conditional waiver is being offered this year due to lingering impacts of COVID-19.  A full list of APRs for each team, including the Top 10, can be accessed by using the APR searchable database.