A year after being penalized the most out of all other Division I schools for academic performance, the Sacramento State athletic department improved in almost every program.

In the May 6 NCAA Academic Progress Report, Sac State only had one team, football, suffer a penalty for its poor Academic Performance Rate. The APR is a four-year rolling average of program performance to retain scholarship athletes and keep them eligible for play.

Last year, seven Sac State teams were penalized for APR numbers that fell below the NCAA threshold. This year, the school had nine sports with a perfect score of 1,000.

Football will lose one scholarship because its APR was once again below 900. However, in 2007-08, Marshall Sperbeck’s first season as head coach, the team had an APR of 945.

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility, retention and graduation of each scholarship student-athlete. Teams that score below 925 on their four-year rate or have students leave school academically ineligible can lose up to 10 percent of their scholarships through immediate penalties.

Teams can also face historically based penalties for poor academic performance over time.

“It isn’t just about playing your sport and maintaining eligibility,” said Bill Macriss, Sac State deputy director of athletics. “It’s about coming here, progressing toward your degree and getting something so you can move on to the next phases of your life.”

Dan King can be reached at [email protected]