• NCAA Information

    What Is The NCAA?

    The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a non-profit organization comprised of over 1200 colleges and universities. The association administers 23 sports and their associated championships. It seeks to enforce the rules of the NCAA and oversees the distribution of money received from various avenues.  The NCAA strives to help make competition fair, safe and sportsmanlike as well as make sports a productive part of college life.  Member colleges and universities are governed by the rules and regulations of the NCAA in regards to recruitment, practice schedules, and academic rigor among other things.

     What is the NCAA Eligibility Center? Why is it important?

    The NCAA Eligibility Center took over operations for the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse in November 2007. The Eligibility Center certifies the academic and amateur credentials of all students who want to play sports at an NCAA Division I or II institution as freshmen. In order to practice, play and receive an athletic scholarship, students need to meet certain academic benchmarks. An additional certification process exists to make sure the student is still an amateur, which is necessary in order for the student to compete. Academic Credentials + Amateurism Status = College Eligible

     What Courses Should You Take?

    Regardless of your athletic ability, you must be able to gain admission to the college or university where you want to play.  In order to do that, you must take college bound, academic course work throughout your high school career.  Included in this packet are the Division I and Division II worksheets to determine if you have completed the required courses and what your overall GPA is in just those courses.

     When Should You Register?

    Students must register on the web site. We recommend that they register during their junior year. The Eligibility Center will evaluate a student’s academic credentials once the following information has been received, and the student has had their status requested by an NCAA member institution:

    ü  Completed online registration

    ü  Fee payment

    ü  SAT or ACT test score on file from the respective testing agency

    ü  Transcript(s) from all schools or programs attended

     NCAA image
     
     Get Ready. Get Set. Go!

    • Grade 9 - Plan

      • Start planning now: take the right courses and earn the best grades possible.
      • Ask your counselor for a list of your high school's NCAA-approved core courses to make sure you take the right classes.
      • If you fall behind, ask your counselor for help with finding approved courses

       Grade 11 - Study

      • Check with your counselor to make sure you are on track to complete the required number of NCAA-approved courses.
      • Take the ACT or SAT and submit your scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center 
      • At the end of the year, ask your counselor to send or upload your official transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center. If you took classes at more than one high school or program, submit an official transcript for each school.
      • Make sure you are on track to graduate on time with your class.

       Grade 12 - Graduate

      • Complete your final NCAA core courses as you prepare for graduation.
      • Take the ACT or SAT again, if necessary, and submit your scores.
    • Request your final amateurism certification beginning April 1 (fall enrollees) or Oct. 1 (spring enrollees) in your NCAA Eligibility Center account 
      • After you graduate, ask your counselor to send or upload your final official transcript with proof of graduation to the NCAA
      • Only students on an NCAA Division I or II school's certification request list will receive a certification.

       What is a core course?

      For a high school class to be an NCAA-approved core course, it MUST meet these conditions:

      • Be an academic, four-year college preparatory course in one of these subject areas;
        • English
        • Math (Algebra I or higher)
        • Natural/physical science
        • Social science
        • Foreign Language
        • Comparative religion or philosophy
      • Be taught at or above your high school's regular academic level.
      • Receive credit toward high school graduation and appear on an official transcript with course title, grade and credit awarded.

       Academic Standards

      Division I:

      1. Complete a total of 16 NCAA core courses in the following areas:

        4 years of English

      +3 years of math (Algebra I or higher)

      +2 years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if offered).

      +2 years of social science

      +1 additional year of English, math or science

      +4 additional years of English, math, science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion of philosophy

       2. Complete 10 of your 16 core courses, including seven (7) in English, math or natural/physical science, before the start of your seventh semester (start of senior year).

       3. Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score that matches your core-course GPA (minimum 2.300) on Division I sliding scale. SAT scores earned on or after March 2016 will be evaluated based on concordance tables established by the College Board.

       Division II: 

      If you enroll BEFORE August 1 - 

      1. Complete a total of 16 core courses in the following areas:

        3 years of English

      +2 years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)

      +2 years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if offered)

      +2 years of social science

      +3 additional years of English, math or science

      +4 additional years of English, math, science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy.

       2. Earn at least a 2.000 GPA in your core courses.

       3. Earn an SAT combined score of 820 or an ACT sum score of 68. SAT scores earned during or after March  will be evaluated based on concordance tables established by the College Board.