The University of Tennessee fared well in the latest academic progress rate figures, released by the NCAA.

Only baseball will be penalized 0.04 of a scholarship under the 2005-2006 figures announced Wednesday.

The Vols’ baseball team, which was penalized 1.17 scholarships last year, improved 15 points from to an 865 ranking.

Fernandez West, interim director of the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center praised UT’s progress.

"We are very proud of our teams’ performances in the classroom," West said in a statement. "The NCAA’s academic reform package has challenged student-athletes, and UT’s student-athletes are stepping up to the challenge."

APR figures are based on the academic success and retention of student-athletes.

Each student-athlete can earn two points a semester — one for remaining academically eligible and another if he or she returns to the university as a full-time student the following term or graduates.

The APR figure is calculated by adding all the points earned divided by the total possible, which is then multiplied by 1,000.

The men’s basketball and swim teams were below the required score of 925, but will not be penalized because both teams fell within the NCAA’s "confidence boundary."

That exception is given to programs with a smaller number of athletes to measure, although the provision goes away next year, when the NCAA will have four full years’ worth of data.

Once a team falls below the 925 mark, it becomes subject to a contemporaneous (immediate) penalty if any athlete leaves the program and is ineligible when he leaves, known as a "0-for-2."

According to the NCAA, 63 teams earned contemporaneous penalties, 49 face historical penalties and 18 teams are facing both.

This is the first year the NCAA has imposed historical penalties.

This year teams are publicly warned, but in the future teams could be subjected to a reduction in scholarships, practice time, number of games and even postseason eligibility.

Ole Miss was the only other SEC school penalized, losing 0.65 of a scholarship for both men’s indoor and outdoor track.

In state, Middle Tennessee State was penalized four football scholarships, Lipscomb lost 1.10 baseball scholarships and UT Chattanooga lost 6.30 football scholarships and .94 of a wrestling scholarship.

Nationally, only five women’s teams were assessed scholarship penalties.

UT’s football team improved 12 points over last year’s score to 938. That number is four points above the national average for schools in Division I-A.

Golf had the highest APR of men’s sports at 972.

All eleven Lady Vols’ teams ranked safely above the 925 benchmark.

Eight of those teams scored 975 or higher. The women’s basketball team scored a 958.

"I am very proud of the accomplishments our student-athletes have made," said women’s athletic director Joan Cronan in a statement. "Now we not only keep score on the field of play, but the APR is the win-loss record in the classroom, which is in accord with our mission statement that our student-athletes are students first."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

UT's multi-year academic progress rates for individual sports were:

Men's Sports APR

Baseball 865

Basketball 910+

Cross Country 947

Football 938

Golf 972

Swimming and Diving 914+

Tennis 939

Track, Indoor 936

Track, Outdoor 940

Women's Sports APR

Basketball 958

Cross Country 984

Rowing 983

Golf 989

Soccer 959

Softball 962

Swimming 975

Tennis 978

Track, Indoor 978

Track, Outdoor 978

Volleyball 976

+ - Denotes APR that does not subject the team to contemporaneous penalties due to the squad-size adjustment.