JONESBORO, Ark. (4/13/16) – Four Arkansas State University intercollegiate athletics programs – women's bowling, women's golf, women's tennis and men's cross country – have earned Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA for earning multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR) in the top 10 percent of all teams in each sport.

The Red Wolves' women's bowling team is receiving the national honor for the third consecutive year, while the women's golf, women's tennis and men's cross country teams have appeared on the list in each of the last two seasons.

Overall, A-State has had six different programs recognized with the special distinction 12 times since the NCAA began acknowledging teams in 2004-05.

A-State also led all Sun Belt Conference schools with four public recognitions. Texas State had three teams honored, while Little Rock, Georgia Southern and Georgia State had two teams each. Appalachian State, UT Arlington, Troy, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette rounded out the list of SBC institutions named with one team each.

In all, 1,071 NCAA Division I teams were publicly recognized, including 649 women's teams and 422 men's or mixed squads. The scores required to be in the top 10 ranged from 983 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport.

Each year, the NCAA honors selected Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multiyear 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.

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.

APR scores for all Division I sports teams will be announced Wednesday, April 20.