It isn’t too early to acquaint yourself with the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). If you are planning to enroll in college as a freshman and wish to participate in Division I or Division II athletics, you must be certified by the NCAA Initial Eligibility Center. The Eligibility Center ensures consistent application of NCAA initial-eligibility requirements for all prospective student athletes to all member institutions.

Your Responsibility as a Prospective Student-Athlete:                                            
It is your responsibility to make sure the Eligibility Center has the documents it needs to certify you. 

These documents are:

• completed and signed Student Release Form and registration form
• completed transcript mailed directly from every high school you have attended
• ACT and/or SAT scores
• Foreign Student Application (if applicable)

To be certified by the Eligibility Center, you must:

Graduate from High School
You should apply for certification if you are sure you wish to participate in athletics as a freshman in the college to which you will be admitted. The Eligibility Center will issue a preliminary certification report when you have had all your materials submitted. After you graduate, if your eligibility information is requested by a member institution, the Eligibility Center will review your final transcript to make a final certification decision according to NCAA standards. Have a GPA of at least 2.3

Earn a Grade Point Average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale of at least 2.3 in a core curriculum of at least 16 (or 14 for Division II) academic courses which were successfully completed during grades 9 through 12. Only courses that satisfy the NCAA definition of a core course can be used to calculate your NCAA GPA. No special values are allowed for “+” or “-“ grades.

The standards maintain 16 core courses passed, but 10 of those 16 courses must be completed by the START of the student-athlete’s senior year of high school. Additionally, the new sliding scale for the SAT/ACT will soon be approved with higher test scores required. 

For more information about the National Collegiate Athletic Association eligibility requirements, visit www.ncaa.org or contact your high school counselor.