The Georgia Bulldogs had 10 football players graduate on the weekend of May 9-10, so now’s an interesting time to check in on where Georgia football stands academically. In the name, image and likeness era, academics is something that gets overlooked, but is still very important for student athletes.
There’s no doubt that the Bulldogs have had a lot of success of the field. Georgia has won two national title and two SEC championships over the past four seasons (from 2021-2024).
Off-the-field, Georgia has had its fair share of issues. However, Georgia coach Kirby Smart places a strong emphasis on academics and the classroom has not been an off-the-field problem for Georgia. In fact, Georgia football is doing better academically than it has at any other point over the past two decades (based on APR scores).
Georgia’s current Academic Progress Rate (APR) is in the middle of the pack of the SEC. Georgia has an APR of 979 (based on a four-year average of APR scores from 2020-2024), which is tied for eighth in the SEC.
What is an APR?
(APRs) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.
APRs are a way for schools to measure how their student athletes are performing academically. Programs must maintain an APR of 930 to be eligible for the postseason. Akron (APR of 914) became college football’s first program to receive a postseason ban due to academics since 2014.
Scholarship student-athletes can earn 1 point for staying on course for a degree in their chosen major and 1 point for being retained (or graduating) at the end of each academic term.
Georgia’s 2023-2024 APR is 1,000, which is the highest possible number for an individual year. Georgia’s four-year APR of 979 is the highest it has ever been in the NCAA’s APR database, which started back during the 2004-2005 academic year.
Georgia’s lowest APR since the start of the APR database came in 2004-2005 when Georgia had an APR of 950. The lowest APR of the Kirby Smart era came in Smart’s first season when Georgia had an APR of 961 (if you count the 2015-2016 academic year — otherwise it was an APR of 963 during the 2016-2017 academic year).
