Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley State Football Barred From 2026 Postseason as Five HBCU Programs Receive NCAA APR Penalties

“These penalties reflect a failure of institutional infrastructure, not a failure of our student-athletes. We are committed to building the academic support structure this program has long deserved.”

— Marva B. Johnson, President, Florida A&M University

Five sport programs across four HBCU athletic departments are operating under NCAA Academic Progress Rate penalties for the 2024-25 academic year, with three teams barred from postseason competition and one waiver approved, according to institutional reports released this spring by the NCAA. The data covers a rolling four-year window from 2021-22 through 2024-25. Of the 23 HBCU programs tracked in Data Driven HBCU’s cohort, 18 reported no penalties for the current cycle.

The penalised programs span two conferences and four sports. Florida A&M University football, Mississippi Valley State University football and Grambling State University men’s track and field are each postseason ineligible for the 2025-26 season. Alabama A&M University men’s basketball is also postseason ineligible, while the Bulldogs’ football program received a Level Two penalty but secured a waiver preserving postseason eligibility. Delaware State University women’s cross country faces practice restrictions but remains postseason eligible.

2024-25 APR Penalties — HBCU Cohort

Source: NCAA Division I APR Institutional Reports, 2024-25, released April 17, 2026. Multiyear APR reflects a rolling four-year average (2021-22 through 2024-25) on a 1,000-point scale. The NCAA postseason participation benchmark is 930.

What the APR Measures — and What Triggers a Penalty

The Academic Progress Rate is a term-by-term measure of academic eligibility and retention for scholarship student-athletes, scored on a 1,000-point scale and calculated as a four-year rolling average. Each student-athlete can earn up to 2 points per term: 1 for remaining academically eligible and 1 for staying enrolled. A program’s APR is the ratio of points earned to points possible, multiplied by 1,000.

Programs scoring below 930 face escalating penalties. Level One penalties limit teams to 16 hours of weekly athletics activities, with the four lost hours replaced by academic programming. Level Two penalties add out-of-season restrictions, a 10% reduction in season length and contests and, in football, cancellation of spring practice. Postseason ineligibility applies when a program’s score falls below 930 and no qualifying waiver is approved by the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance. Schools may petition for a waiver based on demonstrated academic improvement, student-athlete resources or graduation success rates.

Florida A&M: A Failed Condition and a Changed Administration

Florida A&M football posted a multiyear APR of 918 and is subject to Level Two penalties and postseason ineligibility for the 2026 season. The program had received a conditional waiver ahead of the 2025 season; the university acknowledged that those conditions were not met.

The four-year window producing the score includes academic years that predate the current president, athletic administration and coaching staff. FAMU Director of Athletics John F. Davis addressed that context directly while declining to use it as a shield.

“The four-year rolling average that produced this outcome includes a period of significant transition. That context does not excuse the result, and we are not here to make excuses. We are here to fix it.”

— John F. Davis, Director of Athletics, Florida A&M University

Head coach Quinn Gray Sr. said academics and performance are unified priorities in his program.

“Academics and football are not competing priorities in our program. They are the same priority. Every player on this roster knows the expectation: you handle your business in the classroom first.”

— Quinn Gray Sr., Head Football Coach, Florida A&M University

FAMU has since expanded compliance monitoring, introduced real-time academic engagement tracking, and formally engaged newly appointed Faculty Athletics Representative Dr Gail Randolph to connect athletic academic support to faculty advising networks. The Rattlers open the 2026 regular season at home against Albany State on Aug. 29.

Alabama A&M: A Waiver Approved, a Basketball Ban Still Active

Alabama A&M football recorded a multiyear APR of 897 and received a Level Two designation. The university petitioned the NCAA for a postseason waiver, which was approved, keeping the Bulldogs eligible for championships while the program operates under practice restrictions.

“Alabama A&M University football is not under a postseason ban. The program remains fully eligible for all postseason opportunities. Alabama A&M filed for a waiver and the waiver was approved.”

— Brian Howard, Assistant AD for Communications, Alabama A&M University

The football waiver does not extend to the basketball program. Alabama A&M men’s basketball posted a multiyear APR of 904 under a Level One penalty and remains postseason ineligible for the 2025-26 season without a separate waiver in place.

Mississippi Valley State, Grambling State and Delaware State

Mississippi Valley State football recorded the lowest multiyear APR in the cohort at 894 and is subject to Level Two penalties and postseason ineligibility. Grambling State men’s track and field posted a 921 and carries a Level One penalty and postseason ineligibility for the upcoming outdoor season. Delaware State women’s cross country recorded a 919, earning a Level One practice reduction while remaining postseason eligible. None of the three programs had issued public statements at time of publication.

A Staffing Question With No Clean Answer

Compliance offices sit at the operational center of APR management: monitoring academic eligibility term by term, flagging at-risk students before they lose a point, and coordinating with coaches, registrars, and academic advisors across departments. How well-resourced those offices are varies significantly across the 23-program HBCU cohort tracked by Data Driven HBCU — and for several penalised programs, the picture is incomplete by design.

Mississippi Valley State, which posted the cohort’s lowest multiyear APR at 894, is one of three schools in the cohort that submitted a blank NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System filing. The blank submission means there is no disclosed figure for compliance expenses or staffing full-time equivalents, and the department lists one staff member on its athletics website. Grambling State, whose track and field program is postseason ineligible, also lists one compliance staff member and reported $65,518 in compliance expenses across two FTEs in its most recent available MFRS filing. Florida A&M, meanwhile, lists two compliance staff members and reported $0 in compliance expenses — a figure that likely reflects costs embedded in other administrative budget lines rather than an absence of staff. Alabama A&M and Delaware State have not submitted MFRS reports that are publicly available, leaving their compliance expenditures undisclosed.

The relationship between compliance staffing and APR performance is not linear. Alabama A&M lists three compliance staff members and an intern — among the larger compliance offices in the cohort — yet carries penalties in two sports. Among programs with clean APR records, single-staff compliance offices are common. What the data suggests is a structural tension: HBCU athletics departments managing broad sport portfolios with limited administrative infrastructure face compounding risk when any part of the academic support chain fails. The compliance office is rarely the only pressure point, but it is consistently the one responsible for ensuring nothing is missed.