One of the big news stories over the past week was the release of Academic Progress Rates for every Division 1 school by the NCAA. What you may have heard most about were the high scores that both Alabama and Auburn athletics received when it comes to graduation rate, academic eligibility, and athlete retention. What you may not have heard about though is a growing concern in Division 1 athletics: The status of Historically Black Colleges pertaining to their APR scores.

"It's beyond just being an athletic director's responsibility," says Alabama A&M Athletic Director Bryan Hicks.  "It's a University's responsibility. Here at Alabama A&M University, we take it very seriously."

Just about one year on the job has already seen big changes to the athletic landscape on campus for Hicks. But one that is a continuing battle. Is the omnipresent Academic Progress Report.

"Well the APR is a standard measurement for student athletes based on retention and based on graduation," says Hicks.  "So the report that is done, student athletes get an opportunity to be measured. To see if they are graduating in a timely fashion."

It's a pretty simple concept.  Graduate your student athletes, get a good score.  But since the APR program was introduced over the last decade, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) have been one of the most sanctioned group of universities in the country due to their low scores.  Over the past school year, 31 percent of the sports teams at HBCU's have fallen below the required APR score of 930.  Compared to the rest of division one, where only 6 percent failed to meet that requirement.  To make matters tough, it doesn't always come down to the work in the classroom either.

Hicks explains, "Sometimes it has nothing to do with their academic abilities.  They could have had a good GPA.  But it could have been that they transferred out.  So once again the APR reflects not only academic and degree percentages, but it's also about retention.  So that's why it's very important to recruit men and women that fit the program."

Now it isn't all bad news for HBCU's.  While there may still be a gap between those universities and the rest of Division one... It is certainly getting smaller.  The past 5 years has seen an increase in scores.  But it's still a progress in the works, and one that Hicks enjoys pursuing.

"This is kind of like my strong suit.  This is my background so obviously I have high expectations of where we should go.  We have 13 of our 16 sports make the requirements.  I will be looking at this very often and making sure we're taking the right steps to continue to get better."

You can find the list of all APR scores for every Division 1 school and sport here