For the first time since the NCAA instituted the Academic Progress Rate six years ago, all of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's programs have exceeded the benchmark.
The NCAA will release the latest scores for all Division I schools Tuesday, and all 17 UTC sports will have single-year scores of at least 925 for the 2009-10 academic year, athletic director Rick Hart said.
UTC isn't allowed to release its scores until the NCAA announcement.
"It's nice to know that we're [less than] a week out from the APR numbers being released and know that we've got a good story to tell," Hart said. "Some of the things that we have been aiming for and striving to accomplish, we're going to see happen."
The only UTC program that will face historical penalties for a four-year average below the benchmark is women's soccer. The football program will be penalty free for the first time since the APR began.
Mocs coach Russ Huesman said he's happy with the APR progress that his program has made, which resulted in scholarship and practice-time restrictions being lifted, but he pointed out that it's "a never-ending battle."
UTC announced Thursday that during the spring semester the average grade point average for all student-athletes improved to a record high for the seventh consecutive semester. The average for the spring was 2.97.
Eleven UTC teams had an aggregate GPA of 3.0 or better for the second straight semester. Women's cross country led the way with a 3.86. Football set a record with a 2.66 GPA.