Five FCS Schools Face APR Penalties, Two Ineligible for Postseason

The NCAA released its Academic Progress Rate (APR) on Tuesday, which measures the academic success of a school and its various athletic programs. Failure to obtain a rating over 930 can lead to penalties, such as the penalty five FCS member institutions face based on the APR scores from the 2020-21 academic year through the 2023-24 academic year.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley State, Murray State, and Utah Tech are the five FCS schools that finished with an unsatisfactory APR score below 930. FAMU, Murray State, and Utah Tech face the same level one penalty: a practice reduction from 20 hours a week to 16 hours per week. The 4 hours of reduced practice will be used for academics. Six additional FCS schools – Alabama A&M, Bethune-Cookman, East Texas A&M, Houston Christian, Northwestern State, and Western Illinois – had multi-year rates below 930, but no penalties were assessed.

UAPB and MVSU will face the reduced practice penalty and also be ineligible for the postseason. One FBS team – Akron – will also face a postseason ban due to a low APR rating, while Missouri State (leaving the FCS for Conference USA in 2025) will only see a reduced practice penalty for the second straight season. The table below shows each school, conference, multi-year APR score, and penalty. A full table of all APR scores can be found here.

School	2025 Conference	Multi-Year Rate	Penalty	Postseason Penalty?
Alabama A&M	SWAC	901	None	No
Arkansas-Pine Bluff	SWAC	914	Level 1: Practice Reduction	Postseason Ineligibility
Bethune-Cookman	SWAC	888	None	No
East Texas A&M	Southland	922	None	No
Florida A&M	SWAC	911	Level 1: Practice Reduction	No
Houston Christian	Southland	929	None	No
Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	907	Level 1: Practice Reduction	Postseason Ineligibility
Missouri State	C-USA (FBS)	924	Level 1: Practice Reduction	No
Murray State	MVFC	926	Level 1: Practice Reduction	No
Northwestern State	Southland	928	None	No
Utah Tech	UAC	903	Level 1: Practice Reduction	No
Western Illinois	OVC-Big South	905	None	No

Photo Credit to NCAA/NCAA Photos