ST. LOUIS – Four Saint Louis University athletic programs were honored by the NCAA today as part of the 2014-15 Academic Performance Program public recognition awards. The Billiken sports recognized are women's cross country, men's tennis, women's track and field and volleyball.

Each year the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR). This announcement is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport. 

Since the APR public recognition awards were initiated in 2004-05, the Billikens have had a total of 44 programs recognized. Women's track and field and women's cross country were each recognized for the fourth consecutive season.

In all, the Atlantic 10 Conference had 57 sports programs recognized.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance.