INDIANAPOLIS — For the third-straight year, Appalachian State University women's golf has earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award for ranking among the top 10 percent of all Division I women's golf programs in the latest multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) figures, the NCAA announced on Wednesday.

The APR provides a real-time look at a program's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship, accounting for eligibility, retention and graduation. The latest multiyear APR scores include figures from the four-year period beginning with the 2011-12 academic year and ending with 2014-15.

Under the leadership of head coach Heather Brown, Appalachian State has received Public Recognition Awards in 2014, '15 and '16. App State is one of four Sun Belt Conference women's golf programs to earn the award this year, joining Arkansas State, Texas State and Troy. Other notable women's golf programs to receive the recognition this year include Brown, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA and Virginia.

Recognition for academic progress and achievement has long been a staple of Appalachian State athletics, as at least one Mountaineer team has been honored in 10 of the 11 years that Public Recognition Awards have been conferred. In the only year that an Appalachian State team did not earn a Public Recognition Award (2011-12), 14 of Appalachian's 20 varsity programs recorded multiyear APR scores that matched or exceeded the national average for their respective sports and two more scored within two points of their sports' national averages.

“I'm extremely proud of our women's golf program for earning this incredible honor for the third-straight year,” Appalachian State director of athletics Doug Gillin said. “Coach Brown's team epitomizes how we strive for our programs to represent our University, academically and athletically. I am thankful for the efforts of Coach Brown, her past and present student-athletes, our academic services staff and the Appalachian State faculty that have made this recognition possible.”

On the course, the Mountaineers have seven top-five finishes in nine tournaments this year, including a victory in last week's Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate in Morganton, N.C. The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Women's Golf Championship begins on Sunday in Miramar, Fla.

The NCAA will announce the latest APR figures for all sports on Wednesday, April 20.