Eight of 18 University of Hawaii sports programs exceeded the overall national average for the NCAA’s Academic Performance Rate, it was announced today by UH and the NCAA.

The APR is a device to measure eligibility, graduation and retention of scholarship athletes.

The four-year rolling average this year was 974 according to the NCAA.

Men’s swimming (977), women’s cross country (986), softball, (980), soccer (978), women’s swimming (995), women’s tennis (976), women’s indoor (982) and outdoor (982) track surpassed the national average.

In addition, eight of 18 programs topped the nation averages for their individual sports, UH said.

They were: baseball, football, men’s swimming and diving, women’s cross country, softball, women’s swimming and diving, women’s indoor and outdoor track and field.

“I think we are going in the right direction,” athletic director Ben Jay said. “Our scores reflect the attitude and commitment of our student-athletes toward academics and graduation.”

Two UH teams, men’s golf and men’s tennis, had perfect scores of 1,000 for the 2011-’12 academic year, the most recently measured period.

Men’s basketball had a four-year APR of 951 and was at 885 for 2011-’12.