UW Huskies football wins national championship - in academics
Ben Arthur | SeattlePI.com


WOOF!

SEATTLE - The University of Washington Huskies are sitting atop the nation when it comes to academics.

The NCAA announced this week that UW football posted the highest four-year Academic Progress Rate of all the top level Division I programs in the country for 2018-19, with a 999 out of 1,000.

It’s the highest score ever for an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision program.

Washington’s score was one point better than the previous record by an FBS program (998), set by Wisconsin for 2013-14.

“To post the highest-ever recorded four-year mark among FBS programs speaks volumes about our students, football coaches and staff’s commitment to continued excellence in the classroom at the University of Washington,” UW Director of Athletics Jennifer Cohen said in a news release.

The Academic Progress Rate measures academic progress and retention. Implemented by the NCAA in 2004, the metric is designed to hold programs accountable for the academic progress of their student athletes. The system includes rewards for superior academic performance and penalties for failure to reach benchmarks in the classroom. APR data is announced each spring.

APR scores represent a four-year rolling average, so the data released this week is representative of the academic year 2015-16 through 2018-19.

UW football was one of 13 Division I FBS programs to earn an APR of 988 or higher in this year’s data, but was the only program to receive a 999. The score gives the Huskies the No. 1 APR in the Pac-12 for the third year in a row. Washington has earned APR recognition in four straight years overall.

Nationally, UW has been one of the gold standards of attaining both academic and football excellence. In the four consecutive years they’ve earned APR recognition, the Huskies have also won 40 games and been to three New Year's Six bowls.