NCAA/NAIA College Freshman Requirements

College-bound student athletes first entering a Division I or II college or university must meet academic requirements to practice, receive athletics scholarships, and / or compete during their first year. There are several steps in the process, and this is a brief overview. The NCAA Eligibility Center has designed a website with the student-athlete in mind. This is where you will find the tools and information necessary to begin the college experience as a student-athlete. You should take classes marked NCAA approved.  After your sophomore year you will register online at www.eligibilitycenter.org. Before a student is eligible to participate in college athletics at the NCAA Division I or Division II level, the NCAA Clearinghouse must certify the student. Part of that certification process includes making sure that the student has successfully taken the required number of core courses. 

NAIA Academic Requirements

• Be a graduate of an accredited high school

• Meet two of the three following requirements:

1.  Achieve a minimum of 16 on the ACT or 860 on the SAT.

2.  Achieve a minimum overall high school GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.

3.  Graduate in the top half of your high school class.

Remember the NAIA code for ACT is 9876

There are many more levels of college-bound athletics, each of which has its own eligibility requirements. Visit the following website:  www.playnaia.org. Every student interested in playing championship sports at NAIA colleges for the first time needs to register at PLAYNAIA.  

All high school student-athletes wishing to compete in college must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center and/or NAIA Clearinghouse. The Eligibility Center maintains and processes all of the initial-eligibility certifications. 

More information can be found here:  www.ncaa.org and www.playnaia.org. If you have any questions, you can contact the counseling department. 

NOTE: Freshman year is when these requirements start. To practice, receive scholarships, and/or compete in college, you must take appropriate courses that are NCAA approved and meet both GPA and ACT requirements. Grades and courses you take do matter. If you have any questions ask the counselor or go to the NCAA or NAIA websites.