The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) data earlier this week, with the results once again reflecting the strong academic performances of Division I men's and women's hockey players.

The women's hockey four-year average score from 2021-22 through 2024-25 was 994, which was tied for the fourth-best mark among all women's sports, while men's hockey scored 986, tied for seventh among all men's sports.

Additionally, men's hockey's most recent single-year APR score of 989 for 2024-25 ranked fourth among men's sports with 50 or more teams.

The APR, created in 2003 to measure Division I schools and teams on their student-athletes' success in the classroom, awards points to teams based on students' grades, their progress toward their degree and for staying in school.

More than one-quarter of the women's hockey programs (10 of 38) included in the study – Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Colgate, UConn, Minnesota, Providence, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, and Vermont – logged perfect multi-year average APR scores of 1,000. An impressive 90 percent of all women's hockey teams (35 of 39) included in the study had multi-year scores above the national Division I average of 986.

Six men's teams – Bowling Green, Canisius, Penn State, RIT, Robert Morris and St. Lawrence – had perfect multi-year average APR scores of 1,000. More than half of all men's programs (34 of 61) included in the study had multi-year APR scores above the national average.

Additionally, 29 women's teams and 28 men's teams posted perfect scores for the 2024-25 cohort.

The calculation of APR also rewards teams when former student-athletes return to school to complete their degree. In recent years, National Hockey League players like Thatcher Demko (Boston College), Nic Dowd (St. Cloud State), Jack Johnson (Michigan), Ryan McDonagh (Wisconsin), Drew O'Connor (Dartmouth), and Jake Oettinger (Boston University) have completed their undergraduate degrees after having left school early to play professionally.

The APR is related – but not identical – to the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR), serving in a way as a predictor of GSR success. Women's hockey had a 97-percent graduation rate in the most recent study, while men's hockey's boasted a 93-percent graduation rate, placing both among the top five of women's and men's sports, respectively.

For more information, visit NCAA.org.