Dive Brief:

• The NCAA is banning 36 teams from postseason play in the 2014-2015 school year because of poor academic performance, up from 13 this year.
• The association’s latest Academic Progress Rates — scores assigned to athletic programs based on the number of student-athletes who get good grades and graduate — show overall improvement, including increases for baseball, football, and men’s and women’s basketball.
• Separate from the postseason play penalties, 57 NCAA Division I teams will be penalized for failing to meet minimum academic standards, up from 32 in 2013-2014. That increase is partly due to an increase in the minimum APR required for avoiding penalties.

Dive Insight:

The NCAA’s spin: Division I student-athletes are making progress academically, because the average APRs are increasing. That interpretation, of course, doesn’t take into account the measures that colleges and universities will take to boost their scores, such as enrolling their student-athletes in easy-pass courses and low-effort majors. Programs receiving penalties or recognition for progress can be found in an online searchable database.