CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina football team set a program record for the second straight year under the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) program. The team's impressive academic success and its skills on the gridiron are not something we have seen a lot of, and likely won't see much of in the future as NIL continues to be a bigger part of college athletics. 

In an exclusive interview with Spectrum News 1, UNC football coach Mack Brown discussed the achievements of UNC football in the classroom and on the field, and how college sports needs to adapt to the constantly changing world of name, image and likeness.

This past year, the Tar Heels produced a four-year rate of 996, which is the highest rate of any football program in the ACC, and the third highest (tied with Northwestern) out of all Power 5 conferences. 

According to the NCAA, APR is calculated by: 

• Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible
• A team's total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team's academic progress rate
• In addition to a team's current-year APR, its rolling four-year APR is also used to equal the team's Academic Progress Rate

The NCAA says teams must earn a four-year average APR of 930 to compete in championship events. There are penalties as well for not complying with said requirements such as:

• Teams who do not record a 930 APR can only have 16 hours of athletic-related activities per week over five days (as opposed to 20 hours over six days per week)
• A second level adds additional athletics activities and competition reductions, either in the traditional or non-championship season.