The phrase "academic index" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts related to education, admissions, or assessments where a numerical representation of academic performance is discussed.
Example: "The university uses an academic index to evaluate applicants' overall performance in their previous studies."
Alternatives: "scholastic index" or "academic score".
If the Academic Index is not a material secret, it is certainly a sensitive topic.
Ivy League colleges compute an academic index for freshmen based on their College Board SAT and achievement test scores.
Mr. Goldberger instead described the pieces of a college application that can have greater impact than an Academic Index number.
Nearly every prospective Ivy player must meet a minimum on the Academic Index, a measuring tool that uses grade-point average, class rank and standardized test scores.
What do readers of The Choice think of the Academic Index, and its outsized role in the admission of Ivy League athletes?
"Any one of the eight can go after some superstar athlete if he or she qualifies according to the Academic Index," Beckett said.
Although the Academic Index has been around for a quarter-century, it has almost never been examined outside the educational community.
The specifics on how the Academic Index is calculated or how it is evaluated from university to university are not made public.
Which leads to another caution: Mr. Goldberger said the Academic Index is not accurate enough to be a reliable forecast of admissibility.
For Harvard, the departure of Ben-Eze from the class could help raise its Academic Index, a complicated formula that establishes minimum standards for athletes to be admitted to Ivy League programs.
There is a minimum Academic Index number allowed for admission, and each institution is allowed only a certain number of recruited athletes at the lowest range of the acceptable index.
