The NCAA notified FAMU that it will lose additional athletic scholarships as a result of its failure to comply with the NCAA's Academic Progress Rates (APR). The Rattler athletic program was one of the hardest hit NCCA programs by the relatively new rule.
As a result, FAMU will lose additional scholarships in baseball (1.07), football (8), men's basketball (1), men's swimming (0.99) and women's swimming (1.23). The NCAA said that the loss of eight football scholarships will be separate and in addition to penalties previously leveled against Florida A&M. Charged with a lack of institutional control, Florida A&M was put on probation for four years with a loss of 30 scholarships, including 14 over the next four seasons.
"The goal of academic reform is to improve academic behaviors and increase graduation, not unnecessarily penalize teams," said NCAA president Myles Brand.
The APR is calculated by measuring the academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes by team each term. Based on current data, an APR of 925 calculates to an approximate Graduation Success Rate of 60 percent.
Teams that fall below the NCAA's cutoff line would not be able to replace those scholarships when academically ineligible athletes leave school. The NCAA has limited penalties to a maximum of 10 percent of the scholarships.
There is some concern that historically black colleges and universities were affected disproportionately.
"It is an issue," Brand said. "A number of those institutions received mission exemptions, but there are a number of institutions that are still not performing as well for student-athletes as they are for the rest of the student body."
NCAA officials said, harsher penalties will be handed out in the future.