Frequently asked questions about the application of the APR and contemporaneous penalties:

Q Will a team's APR score be based on one year of data?

A The APR eventually will be composed of four years of APR data. The APR score initially used to implement contemporaneous penalties will be based on two years of APR data (that is, 2003-04 and 2004-05). Eventually, the 2007-08 APR will be based on four years of data (that is, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07). Every year thereafter, the most current year's data will be added and the oldest year of data will be removed, creating a four-year rolling rate.

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Q How will the multiple years of APR data be combined?

A A team's APR will be determined by summing the numerators and denominators for all appropriate years and then dividing the overall numerator by the overall denominator to calculate the team's APR. That method takes into account the differences in numbers of students in the calculation from year to year and weights each student-athlete equally.

For example, the two-year APR rate is figured as follows:

A semester school's team's APR for 2003-04 is 12/18 = .666 The same team's APR for 2004-05 is 10/20 = .500

To figure the two-year APR, add the numerators for both years (12 + 10 = 22), add the denominators for both years (18 + 20 = 38) and divide the numerator by the denominator to obtain the raw APR (22/38). The stated APR (after multiplying by 1,000) is .579.

The two-year APR is not figured by averaging the two rates together. That would not allow all student-athletes in the cohort to be given equal weight. Averaging the two would have produced an APR of 580.

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Q What are some examples of how contemporaneous penalties are determined?

A Say a team has an APR of 980 but has two "0-for-2" student-athletes. The team is not subject to contemporaneous penalties because its APR score is above 925. The two "0-for-2" student-athletes do not result in a penalty.

Another team's APR score is 915. However in the most recent academic year no student-athletes were "0-for-2" in any term. The team is not subject to contemporaneous penalties. Although the APR score is below 925, the penalties are based on the individuals composing each team during the most recent academic year, so even though the team's APR score was below 925, no student-athlete left ineligible.

A third example is a football team whose APR score is 890 and in the most recent academic year three scholarship student-athletes did not return to the institution and would not have been academically eligible had they returned ("0-for-2"). Since the team's APR is below 925, all three of the "0-for-2" student-athletes subject the team to the contemporaneous penalty.

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Q Is the contemporaneous penalty applicable only for student-athletes who are "0-for-2" for the year, or "0-for-2" in any term?

A A student-athlete subjects the institution to a penalty if he or she is "0-for-2" (that is, left the institution and would not have been academically eligible had he or she returned) for any regular academic term and does not return to the institution for the next fall term. A student-athlete who is a 2-for-2 in the fall semester but 0-for-2 in the spring semester (2-for-4 for the year) does subject the institution to penalty.

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Q If a team is subject to contemporaneous penalties, when must those penalties be taken?

A Teams must take contemporaneous penalties at the next available opportunity. An interpretation defines "the next available opportunity" as the academic year immediately after the student-athlete's departure, unless the institution/team already has received written notification(s) of acceptance of its offers of athletics aid (as evidenced by signed, valid National Letter of Intent or offers of institutional financial aid) that prevent the institution from applying the contemporaneous penalty without "taking away" a scholarship from an incoming freshman or transfer student-athlete.

If an institution has scholarships available for the current academic year, the penalty must be applied for the current academic year, up to the maximum NCAA scholarship limit. If the institution has already committed (that is, NLI, institutional financial aid agreement) all financial aid to prospective student-athletes for the current academic year and does not have enough scholarships available to apply the penalty, only then can an institution delay the penalty until the next academic year.

For example, if a team is assessed a penalty of two scholarships in football for 2005-06, but has already committed in writing (that is, NLI, institutional financial aid agreement) all but one scholarship in football to prospective and current student-athletes, a penalty of one scholarship must be taken during the 2005-06 academic year, and the remaining one scholarship must be assessed during the 2006-07 year.

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Q What if a team does not award the NCAA maximum number of scholarships?

A The amount of the contemporaneous penalty that a team is subject to is taken from the NCAA maximum team financial aid limit, even if a team does not award the maximum number of scholarships in that sport.

For example, Team X awards nine scholarships annually in men's swimming and diving. For the 2005-06 academic year the men's swimming team is subject to a contemporaneous penalty of .50. The NCAA maximum team equivalency amount in men's swimming is 9.9. The penalized amount of .5 equivalency is taken from the maximum amount of 9.9, resulting in a maximum amount of 9.4 equivalencies that can be awarded for the 2005-06 academic year. Because the team awards 9.0 equivalencies annually it would still be permitted to award 9.0 equivalencies for the 2005-06 academic year (since 9.0 is less than the penalized maximum value of 9.4).

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Q Is the value of the contemporaneous penalty based on the amount of athletics aid received by a student-athlete?

A The value of the contemporaneous penalty is based on the individual's total financial aid countable against team limitations, not on the athletics aid only equivalency.

For example, say the value of an institution's full grant-in-aid equals $20,000, and that a student-athlete in an equivalency sport receives $5,000 in athletics aid and $5,000 in other countable aid for a total equivalency value of $10,000 or .5 equivalency value against the team's financial aid limit. The scholarship penalty for this team if such a student is not retained and not academically eligible is equal to the total aid (countable against team limits) awarded to this student-athlete, which is .5 equivalency.