NCAA Academic Requirements

How is NCAA academic eligibility determined?

You need to be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center to compete at a Division 1 or Division 2 school. Create a Certification Account and they will guide you through the process of eligibility certification in accordance with the NCAA academic requirements listed above. You can also create a free Profile Page if you plan to compete at a Division 3 school or have yet to decide where you want to compete.

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What are the NCAA Division 1 Academic Requirements?

The following NCAA academic requirements are in place for all prospective student-athletes who wish to receive an athletic scholarship to compete in NCAA Division 1 sports. Likewise, 99% of student-athletes who meet NCAA academic requirements for D1 athletics will meet NCAA academic eligibility standards at other division levels.

Below are the NCAA Division 1 academic requirements:

You must graduate high school.
You must complete 16 NCAA-approved core courses.
You must complete 10 core courses before your seventh semester (senior year), including seven in English, math or natural/physical science. Once you begin your seventh semester, you may not repeat or replace any of those 10 courses to improve your core-course GPA.
You must earn at least a 2.3 GPA in your core courses that are outlined the NCAA academic requirements.
Receive final certification on your amateurism status via the NCAA Eligibility Center

NCAA Division 2 Academic Requirements

Below are the NCAA Division 2 academic requirements:

You must graduate high school.
You must complete 16 NCAA-approved core courses.
You must complete 10 core courses before your seventh semester (senior year), including seven in English, math or natural/physical science. Once you begin your seventh semester, you may not repeat or replace any of those 10 courses to improve your core-course GPA.
You must earn at least a 2.2 GPA in your core courses that are outlined the NCAA academic requirements.
Receive final certification on your amateurism status via the NCAA Eligibility Center

NCAA Division 3 Academic Requirements

Division 3 schools set their own academic eligibility rules. Check with the school for their specific eligibility requirements.

NCAA.org provides you with comprehensive guides to ensure you remain on track to meet the NCAA academic eligibility guidelines for the Division 1 and Division 2 school of your choice. In addition, Division 3 academic eligibility requirements are independent of the overall NCAA academic requirements as schools feature their own admission standards you will need to meet in order to maintain your eligibility.

What are the NCAA Core Course Requirements?

While the specific NCAA course requirements vary slightly between Division 1 and Division 2, you must complete 16 core courses in order to earn NCAA academic eligibility and enroll at your school of choice. Be aware that 10 of the 16 core courses must be completed for NCAA academic eligibility before your seventh semester (senior year) of high school. There are no NCAA course requirements for Division 3 eligibility as you must simply meet the admissions standards for the institution you wish to attend to compete with full eligibility in accordance with the NCAA academic requirements.

NCAA Division 1 core course requirements:

Four years of English
Three years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
Two years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it)
Two years of social science
One additional year of English, math or natural/physical science
Four additional years of English, math, sciences, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy

NCAA Division 2 core course requirements:

Three years of English
Two years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
Two years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it)
Three additional years of English, math or natural/physical science
Two years of social science
Four additional years of English, math, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy

What are the NCAA GPA requirements for an athletic scholarship in each division?

In order to receive full NCAA academic eligibility to compete your freshman year, you must achieve at least a 2.3 GPA in your core courses for Division 1 and a 2.2 GPA for Division 2 to fulfill the NCAA GPA requirements. There are no set NCAA GPA requirements for Division 3 as schools set their own admissions standards you must meet in order to compete. These GPA standards are outlined in the overall NCAA academic requirements.

The lowest GPA you can maintain and still receive an athletic scholarship as a partial qualifier at a Division 1 or Division 2 institution is a 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. However, you would not be cleared to compete in your first year while receiving an academic redshirt.

GPA requirements to receive NCAA academic eligibility will vary based on the NCAA sliding scale that factors in your best SAT combined score or ACT sum score, according to the NCAA academic requirements. It’s important that you maintain the NCAA GPA requirements for NCAA academic eligibility to maximize your recruitment and earn an athletic scholarship.

How is your GPA calculated?

Your GPA used to determine NCAA academic eligibility will be calculated using only your 16 approved core courses outlined in the NCAA academic requirements. As stated on NCAA.org, your core-course GPA will be calculated on a 4.000 scale. One academic semester for a class counts for 0.5 of a core course credit, while one academic trimester of a class counts for 0.34 of a core course credit. You receive 1.0 course credit for any class taken for a period of one year or longer.

NCAA Division I and Division II Core-Course GPA Worksheet

In order to calculate your estimated core-course GPA to ensure you remain on track to meet NCAA GPA requirements for academic eligibility, divide the total number of quality points for all your core courses by the total number of core-course units you have completed. Multiply the points for each grade you have received by the amount of credit you have earned for each class to determine quality points.

To calculate quality points, letter grades are awarded the following point totals:

A: 4 points
B: 3 points
C: 2 points
D: 1 point

For core courses in which you earn an A, for example, you receive 4.00 quality points for a full-year course (4 points x 1.00 units). Additionally, you receive 2.00 quality points for a semester course in which you earn an A grade (4 points x 0.50 units), as well as 1.36 quality points for a trimester course in which you also earn an A grade (4 points x 0.34 units). You will use the same calculations to determine quality points earned for B, C and D grades, according to the NCAA academic requirements.

NCAA Academic Eligibility Timeline

NCAA.org suggests following the timeline below in order to fulfill the NCAA academic requirements and earn your academic eligibility at the school of your choice. This is a proposed timeline for prospective student-athletes for both Division 1 and Division 2 to ensure you remain on track to meet the NCAA academic requirements for freshman eligibility.

Grade 9

Meet with your guidance counselor and receive a list of your high school’s NCAA core courses to ensure you are set up to take the right classes for NCAA academic eligibility.

Grade 10

Grade 11

Meet with your guidance counselor again to make sure you will graduate on time and meet the NCAA course requirements.
Take the SAT or ACT for the first time and submit your official test scores to the NCAA using code 9999.
After completing your junior year of high school, ask your guidance counselor to upload your official transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Grade 12

Complete your final core courses needed to meet the NCAA course requirements.
Take the SAT or ACT again, if needed, and submit your latest scores to the NCAA using code 9999.
Complete all academic and amateurism questions in your NCAA Eligibility Center profile.
Upon graduation from your high school, ask your counselor to once upload your final official transcript with proof of graduation to the NCA Eligibility Center.

Maintaining NCAA Academic Eligibility

As you might expect, there are also NCAA academic requirements in place once you are enrolled as a college athlete. The NCAA grants Division 1 student-athletes five years of eligibility and athletically-related financial aid and Division 2 student-athletes 10 semesters or 15 quarters of full-time enrollment to complete four competitive seasons.

NAIA Academic Eligibility

Prospective student-athletes looking to continue their athletic and academic pursuits at an NAIA school have different eligibility standards they must meet from those we’ve outlined in the NCAA academic requirements. Not only must you graduate from an accredited high school and be accepted as a regular student in good standing at an NAIA institution, but you must also meet two of the three requirements outlined below to earn NAIA academic eligibility.

If you will graduate from a U.S. high school this spring and enroll in college this coming
fall, the requirements are simple. An entering freshman must:

Be a graduate of an accredited high school.
Meet two of the three following requirements. If as an entering freshman you do not meet at least two of the three standards, you cannot participate in athletics for the first full year of attendance (2 semesters, 3 quarters, or equivalent).
- Achieve a minimum of 18 on the ACT or 970 on the SAT.
- Achieve a minimum overall high school grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Graduate in the top half of your high school class.

The NAIA requires that you sign up with the NAIA Eligibility Center in order to certify your freshman eligibility at one of its member institutions. Sign up today and get started!

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