Twelve Notre Dame athletic teams earned perfect scores in the eighth annual set of Academic Progress Rate statistics issued last month by the NCAA, an achievement unmatched by any other Football Bowl Subdivision school.

All 26 Irish athletics programs again exceeded the NCAA’s APR standards.

Notre Dame’s 12 perfect scores of 1,000 led all FBS programs. Boston College and Duke tied for second with nine each, followed by Northwestern (eight), Vanderbilt (eight), Stanford (seven), North Carolina (five), Rice (five), and Texas (five).

The 2012 report released by the NCAA features a four-year compilation of APR data from the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11 academic years. The APR uses a series of formulas related to student-athlete retention and eligibility to measure the academic performances of all participants who receive grants-in-aid on every team at every NCAA Division I college and university.

Eight Notre Dame men’s teams — basketball, cross country, golf, hockey, lacrosse, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field — registered perfect 1,000 scores. In addition, four Irish women’s teams — cross country, golf, softball, and swimming and diving — also earned perfect scores.

Eleven other Notre Dame teams produced scores of 991 or better: women’s rowing (998), men’s swimming and diving (997), women’s lacrosse (997), women’s soccer (997), women’s indoor track and field (997), women’s outdoor track and field (997), baseball (995), women’s volleyball (994), men’s soccer (993), women's tennis (992), and men’s fencing (991).

The NCAA also announced teams that posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards were part of the broad Division I academic reform effort.

Notre Dame had 17 of its programs honored for the multi-year achievement: baseball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s ice hockey, men’s lacrosse, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s cross country, women’s golf, women’s soccer, softball, women’s swimming and diving, women’s indoor track and field, and women’s outdoor track and field.

Notre Dame also had 17 programs honored in 2011 and 14 programs honored in both 2010 and 2009. Eleven Irish programs were honored each of the previous two years, in both 2007 and 2008.

Notre Dame this year led all FBS schools in number of programs honored, with Duke second with 13. Next in line were Boston College, Northwestern, and Stanford with 10 each.

The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete. The APR includes both retention at institution and academic eligibility in its calculation and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport.