FSU football sees rise in APR; still last in Power 5 ranking

The NCAA has released the APR (Academic Progress Rate) rankings for the 2016-17 academic year, and the Florida State football program saw a significant rise.

FSU had a 918 APR -- out of 1,000 -- during the 2015-16 academic year, but raised that to 966 during the 2016-17 academic year.

The jump raised the Seminoles' multi-year average from 939 to 941, which keeps the football program eligible to participate in championships.

In order to remain eligible to compete in championships a program must have an multi-year APR rating over 930 over a four-year span.

FSU's APR rating was among the lowest in the country throughout Jimbo Fisher's tenure in Tallahassee.

The past three years had seen FSU's single-year rating fall from 956 in 2012-13 to 946 in 2013-14 to 934 in 2014-15 and finally to 918 in 2015-16.

The 2016-17 rating is the program's highest rating since 2010-11 (971).

The football program still has the worst multi-year APR rating among all Power-5 programs and the 20th worst APR rating across all 250 teams despite the significant increase.

The next closest Power-5 team is Kansas at 945 -- 39th lowest -- and the next lowest ACC team is North Carolina -- 97th lowest -- at 960.

In-state rival Florida has a multi-year APR rating of 977 and Miami has an APR rating of 964.

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Men's basketball (961 to 1,000) and men's track (978 to 992) also saw significant improvement.

Baseball (980 to 962), men's golf (1,000 to 977), men's swimming and diving (1,000 to 980), women's basketball (1,000 to 982), and women's volleyball (1,000 to 978) all fell more than 10 points for the single year APR.

None of FSU's other athletic programs are lower than 960 for the multi-year APR ratings.

Men's basketball, men's tennis, women's cross country, women's golf, softball, soccer, beach volleyball, women's tennis, and women's track all achieved perfect scores off 1,000.