Rutgers Football: Results in the Classroom as Well as the Gridiron

Many colleges and universities say that they are interested in providing an education to their players and graduating their students, but Rutgers is delivering on that directive.

This is the fifth straight year that Rutgers has finished in the top 10 percent in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which is the prime measuring tool used by the NCAA to measure scholastic proficiency. In fact, the most recent semester saw the Scarlet Knights football team record their highest grade point average (GPA) in the last 10 years.

The APR tracks the academic progress of student-athletes, and consists of eligibility, retention and graduation rates.

"We're excited about it," head coach Kyle Flood said of the achievement. "It's certainly something we stress as a program. Everybody in our program stresses the importance of the academic part of their development."

Rutgers ranked first overall in 2010, and while slipping a bit to second overall in 2011, still finished in the top 10. A perfect score is 1,000. In 2010, Rutgers had an overall score of 992.

"Our players devote time and discipline to getting their academic studies done, and that makes a difference," remarked Flood. "There's no reason why you can't have a national championship football program and also get a great education while doing it. That's the formula we try to use here at Rutgers."