Ranking all Big Ten football programs by 2026 Academic Progress Rate

Yahoo Sports2h ago13 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

Ohio State leads the Big Ten in Academic Progress Rate (APR) for 2026, achieving a perfect score over multiple years. The APR measures the academic progress of student-athletes based on eligibility and retention.

Key points

Ohio State leads Big Ten in APR for 2026
Ohio State achieved a perfect APR score
APR measures student-athlete eligibility and retention
APR is calculated based on points earned by student-athletes

NCAAOhio StateBig Ten

Once again, Ohio State and the Big Ten continue to perform at an extremely high level when it comes to the NCAA's academic progress rate. The Buckeyes once again led the way in the multi-year APR in the conference, and were one of just two programs to have a perfect APR score over multiple years.

First, some housecleaning on how the NCAA defines APR:

"The APR, or Academic Progress Rate, 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."

And if you care about how the sausage is made, here's how APR scores are calculated:

Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.
In addition to a team’s current-year APR, its rolling four-year APR is also used to determine accountability.

Though it doesn't happen very often, there are real consequences to programs not performing well with APR scores. In fact, programs must maintain an average APR of 930 to compete in postseason play. We've seen teams be ineligible before because of not meeting that standard, and the APR score has been the tiebreaker in receiving lower-level bowl invites when there aren't enough teams with at least six wins.

Recently, the NCAA released a new four-year composite, which includes the 2024-25 school year. Below is the official 18-team ranking for the Big Ten, and also a comparison of how each team did compared to last year's rankings. Beat your Scarlet and Gray chest Ohio State fans.

No. 18 - Penn State Nittany Lions

Q&A

What is the Academic Progress Rate (APR) for Big Ten football programs in 2026?

The APR for Big Ten football programs in 2026 shows Ohio State leading with a perfect score, reflecting high academic performance.

How is the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate calculated?

The APR is calculated by awarding points to student-athletes for staying in school and being academically eligible, then dividing total points by possible points.

Which Big Ten football program has the highest APR score?

Ohio State has the highest APR score in the Big Ten, achieving a perfect score over multiple years.

What does a perfect APR score indicate for a college football program?

A perfect APR score indicates that a college football program maintains high standards for student-athlete eligibility and retention.