NCAA Eligibility Center logo

Many athletes aspire to play their sport at the college level. To be prepared for the recruiting process, student-athletes must have the ability to play the sport and, more importantly, they must have the academic background to be a recruitable athlete. If you think you can play at the college level, it is important for you to make an appointment with your guidance counselor so that you can develop an academic plan that will ensure that you take the courses necessary to be cleared by the NCAA. In addition, it would be wise for you and your parents to visit the NCAA Eligibility Center website to: 

  • understand eligibility requirements.

  • access the NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete.

  • review Frequently Asked Questions.

  • know when/how to file required forms - check on certification status.

  • access phone numbers for the NCAA.

Do not wait until your Junior or Senior year to establish an academic plan; however, it is recommended that students register with the NCAA no later than the summer before their senior year.  You may also want to note that prospective student-athletes should take the ACT or SAT in the Spring of their Junior year, as this is an eligibility requirement.  To further assist you, the following links will provide more information about recruiting rules, the NCAA Clearinghouse, recruiting calendar and more: 

NCAA Student-Athletes - This website provides student-athletes and their parent's insight as to what life is like and the expectations of being a college student-athlete.

NCAA Scholarships

NCAA Scholarships and Grants - Check out what scholarships and grants are available through the NCAA.  

NCAA Eligibility Center - Learn about the NCAA, its Divisions and Sports, as well as the necessary steps a prospective student-athlete must take to be eligible to be recruited and compete.        

NCAA Recruiting Calendar - This website provides prospective student-athletes and their parent's information as to when colleges may begin the recruiting process, restrictions on mail and phone calls and official/unofficial visits.

NCAA National Office - NCAA Homepage

The Value of College Sports

Want to Play College Sports?

NCAA and the New SAT Format vs. the Old SAT Format

If a student takes the current SAT before March 2016 and then takes the redesigned SAT at a later date, the NCAA Eligibility Center will not combine section scores from the current and redesigned SAT when determining a student's initial eligibility. The NCAA Eligibility Center will only combine section scores from the same version of the test. Because the redesigned SAT varies in design and measures different academic concepts than the current SAT, a numerical score on the current test may not be equivalent to the same numerical score on the redesigned test. Students should use recipient code 9999 when sending scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Additional information on changes to the SAT can be found here.

NCAA REQUIREMENTS

Division1 Academic Requirements:

  • The minimum core course GPA is 2.30

  • 10 of the 16 core course requirements must be satisfied prior to the start of the senior year

  • 7 of those 10 core courses must be from the English, Math and Science subsections

  • Grades earned in the 10 core courses are "locked in" for the purpose of calculating the final core course GPA

  • Any retakes of the first 10 core courses must be completed prior to senior year

  • Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score matching your core-course GPA.  For more information about test scores click HERE.  

HIGH SCHOOL PORTAL

  1. Additional high school-specific resources are available on the High School Portal Resources page. The NCAA Eligibility Center receives thousands of calls each year regarding hardcopy transcript receipt due to the two- to three-week processing time needed to mail, log, scan, and post transcripts to student accounts. You are strongly encouraged to submit transcripts through one of the approved e-transcript providers (Docufide/Parchment, Scrip Safe, ConnectEDU, National Transcript Center/Pearson Edustructure, USMO ET, and XAP) as these transcripts usually appear in student accounts within 48 hours.