College Athletics Eligibility & Requirements

Students wishing to continue on with athletics in college are encouraged to begin research early in the process surrounding athletic eligibility and transitioning from high school to college athletics. As soon as a student believes he/she may wish to participate in college athletics at the NCAA DI, DII, or NAIA levels, it is the responsibility of the student/family to communicate this to the student's counselor so that the counselor can assist the family through the process of course selection based on the requirements of these athletic associations.

Important reminders for student athletes and their parents:

Students should review academic standards required to participate in collegiate athletics in NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA. If students fail to meet those requirements, they may not be eligible to play college level sports immediately after graduation.
Each athletic association operates under different rules and policies, including when and how often a coach can contact an athlete. Be aware of these rules!
Admission to a college or university is separate from being selected for a college team. Students still must complete the college application process, adhering to the deadlines established by the Admissions Office.
Students should speak to their high school coaches by at least junior year to discuss likely options for post-high school athletics.

NCAA Eligibility

In order to play Division I or Division II college athletics, high school students must meet first-year eligibility requirements. The NCAA Eligibility Center is the organization that determines if a student meets the eligibility criteria. Students must complete the NCAA Clearinghouse in order to play D1 or D2 college athletics.

Students are deemed eligible if they meet the standards set forth in the following areas: high school academic record (approved courses and GPA), ACT/SAT scores, and any key information about amateur participation. Students who wish to participate in Division I or II athletics should prepare to meet eligibility requirements as they begin high school, and should register online at the NCAA Eligibility Center during sophomore year of high school.

While Division III schools do not offer athletics scholarships, 75 percent of Division III student-athletes receive some form of merit or need-based financial aid. If you are planning to attend a Division III school, only college-bound international student-athletes need to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. Division III schools set their own admissions standards. Click here for more information.

How to Determine Your NCAA Eligibility

Take classes that match your high school’s NCAA List of Approved Core Courses. The NCAA Eligibility Center will only use approved core courses to certify your initial eligibility.

A brief summary of eligibility requirements for NCAA D1 and D2 is outlined below.

Below is an outline for students in each grade who are considering playing NCAA D1 or D2 sports:

Grade 9

Start planning now! Register for a free Profile Page account at eligibilitycenter.org for information on NCAA initial-eligibility requirements.
Find your high school’s list of NCAA-approved core courses at eligibilitycenter.org/courselist to ensure you are taking the right courses, and earn the best grades possible.

Grade 10

If you are being actively recruited by an NCAA school and have a Profile Page account, transition it to the right Certification account.
Monitor the task list in your NCAA Eligibility Center account for next steps.
At the end of the school year, ask your high school counselor from each school you have attended to upload an official transcript to your Eligibility Center account.
If you fall behind academically, ask your high school counselor for help finding approved courses you can take.

Grade 11

Ensure your sports participation information is correct in your Eligibility Center account.
Check with your high school counselor to make sure you are on track to complete the required number of NCAA-approved core courses and graduate on time with your class.
At the end of the school year, ask your high school counselor from each school you have attended to upload an official transcript to your Eligibility Center account.

Grade 12

Request your final amateurism certification beginning April 1 (fall enrollees) or Oct. 1 (winter/spring enrollees) in your Eligibility Center account at eligibilitycenter.org.
Complete your final NCAA-approved core courses as you prepare for graduation.
After you graduate, ask your high school counselor to upload your final official transcript with proof of graduation to your Eligibility Center account.

What is the fee to register?

The registration fee for U.S. students is $75

The NCAA eligibility process also protects the fairness and integrity of college sports by ensuring student-athletes are amateurs. When you register for a Certification account with the NCAA Eligibility Center, you will be asked a series of questions about your sports participation to determine your amateur status. In some instances, the NCAA Eligibility Center staff may need to gather additional information to evaluate your amateur status. To be eligible, all prospective student-athletes also need their amateurism certified.

NAIA Eligibility

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Eligibility Center is responsible for determining the NAIA eligibility of first-time student-athletes.

Students must meet two of the requirements:

Cumulative GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale
ACT of 18 or SAT of 970 Critical Reading and Math
Class rank in top 50% of graduating class
If no class rank is on the transcript, nine college credits can be used in place of this requirement. (Effective May 1, 2020.)

Students may register online at the NAIA Eligibility Center

NAIA does charge a fee for registration.

What do I need to know about the Eligibility Center?

You need to be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center to compete at an NCAA Division I or II school. Create a Certification Account and the staff at the NCAA Eligibility Center will guide you through the process. You need to create a Certification Account to make official visits to Divisions I and II schools or to sign a National Letter of Intent.

Create a free Profile Page if you plan to compete at a Division III school or are not yet sure where you want to compete. You'll get an NCAA ID, and we will send you important reminders as you complete high school.

NAIA does not utilize the NCAA Eligibility Center. Registering with the NAIA Eligibility Center is required for all first-time NAIA student-athletes. It only takes a few minutes to register. The fee to register is $90 for students coming directly from high school, $135 for transfer students, and $150 for international students. For U.S. students with demonstrated need, a fee waiver system is in place.

What do I need to know about Name, Image and Likeness (NIL)?

Prospective student-athletes may engage in the same types of NIL opportunities available to current student-athletes under the interim NIL policy without impacting their NCAA eligibility. NIL opportunities may not be used as a recruiting inducement or as a substitute for pay-for-play. Individuals are encouraged to consider state laws, if applicable, and the rules of any relevant amateur governing bodies. A "Name, Image and Likeness activity" is an activity that involves the use of an individual's name, image and likeness for commercial or promotional purposes.

Check Out:

NCAA NIL Policy Q & A

CIF NIL Policy

What do I need to know about athletic recruiting?

During the NCAA recruiting process it is highly encouraged that a prospective student-athlete visit college campuses. Below are some important terms each prospective student-athlete should know about NCAA visits campus.

Unofficial visit: Any visit by you and your parents to a college campus paid for by you or your parents. The only expense you may receive from the college is three complimentary admissions to a Division I home athletics contest or five complimentary admissions to a Division II home athletics contest. You may make as many unofficial visits as you like after the first permissible date in each sport. The only time you cannot talk with a coach during an unofficial visit is during a dead period. In Division I, it is not permissible to make an official visit during a recruiting shutdown period or a dead period. In Division III, you may receive one on-campus meal as well as admission to a home athletics event for you and those accompanying you.

Official visit: During an official visit, the college can pay for transportation to and from the college for you (and up to two family members in Division I Basketball and FBS Football), lodging and meals (Division I allows for up to three meals per day) for you and up to four family members, as well as reasonable entertainment expenses, including five tickets to a Division I or Division II home sports event. Before a Division I or II college may invite you on an official visit, you will have to provide the college with a copy of your high school transcript and register for a Certification account with the NCAA Eligibility Center. In Division I, it is not permissible to make an official visit during a recruiting shutdown period or a dead period.

During the recruiting process, a prospective student-athlete or family members of a prospective student-athlete may directly or indirectly encounter a college coach. Per NCAA bylaws, there are permissible dates and times when college coaches are permitted to send correspondence, make phone calls and have off-campus contact with prospective student-athletes (and their family members). Below are some important terms regarding off-campus contacts.

Contact: A contact happens any time a college coach says more than "Hello" during a face-to-face meeting with you or your parents off the college's campus.

Evaluation: An evaluation happens when a college coach observes you practicing or competing.

Recruiting calendar: NCAA member schools limit recruiting to certain periods during the year. Recruiting calendars promote the well-being of college-bound student-athletes and ensure fairness among schools by defining certain periods during the year in which recruiting may or may not occur in a particular sport. Recruiting calendars may consist of the following: contact periods, evaluation periods, quiet periods, dead periods, and recruiting shutdowns.

Contact period: During a contact period, a college coach may have face-to-face contact with you or your parents, watch you compete, visit your high school and call or write to you or your parents.

Evaluation period: During an evaluation period, a college coach may watch you compete, visit your high school and call or write to you or your parents. However, a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with you or your parents off the college's campus during an evaluation period.

Quiet period: During this time, a college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents off the college's campus. A coach may not watch you play or visit your high school during this period. You and your parents may visit a college campus during this time. A coach may call or write to you or your parents during this time.

Dead period: A college coach may not have any face-to-face contact with you or your parents on or off the college campus at any time during a dead period. The coach may call or write you or your parents during this time.

Recruiting shutdown: A recruiting shutdown is a period of time when no forms of recruiting (e.g., contacts, evaluations, official or Division I unofficial visits, correspondence, or making or receiving telephone calls) are permissible.

Check Out:

Important Recruiting Terms

NCAA Division I Recruiting Calendars

NCAA Recruiting Facts

What do I need to know about athletic scholarships?

NCAA athletic scholarships
Division I Athletic Scholarships: A student-athlete may receive athletic aid, as well as non-athletic aid, up to the cost of attendance, as dictated by the institution. A student-athlete must meet all eligibility requirements qualifying them to receive athletic aid. Division I schools may provide student-athletes with multiyear scholarships. Additionally, Division I schools may pay for student-athletes to finish their bachelor's or master's degrees after they finish playing NCAA sports.

If a school plans to reduce or not renew a student-athlete's aid, the school must notify the student-athlete in writing by July 1 and provide an opportunity to appeal. In most cases, coaches decide who receives a scholarship, the scholarship amount, and whether it will be renewed.

For the purpose of awarding athletic scholarships, NCAA DI sports are categorized as either "headcount" or "equivalency" for athletic scholarship purposes. If a sport is a "head count" sport then that sport is limited to providing aid to a maximum number of counters. Each counter can receive up to a full scholarship.

An "equivalency sport" on the other hand, provides a limit on the value (equivalency) of financial aid awards that an institution may provide in any academic year to any number of individuals on the roster ("counters"). Individuals may receive a full scholarship which covers tuition and fees, room, board and course-related books, however, most student-athletes who receive athletics scholarships on equivalency sports receive an amount covering only a portion of these costs.

DII Athletic Scholarships: Division II relies on a partial-scholarship model to administer athletics-based financial aid. Very few of the thousands of student-athletes competing in Division II will receive a full athletics grant that covers all of their expenses, but most of them will receive some athletics-based financial aid to help them through school. For the rest of their expenses, student-athletes use academic scholarships, student loans and employment earnings just like most other students attending the school.

The partial-scholarship model allows Division II schools to recognize student-athletes for their skills through athletics-based aid, while at the same time keeping athletics budgets more in line with the institution’s bottom line. It costs Division II schools about half as much to sponsor a competitive athletics program as it does in Division I. The net operating costs in Division II even tend to be lower than for programs of similar size in Division III (primarily because of higher net operating revenues in Division II).

DIII Athletic Scholarships: While Division III schools do not offer athletics scholarships, 80% of Division III student-athletes receive some form of merit or need-based financial aid.

A walk on is someone who is not typically recruited by a school to participate in sports and does not receive a scholarship from the school, but who becomes a member of one of the school's athletics teams.

NAIA athletic scholarships: In the NAIA, each sport has an upper limit for the amount of institutional aid allowed per school. The school may choose to divide the scholarships among student-athletes*, so long as the total does not exceed the limit for the sport.

The total amount of scholarship money a team has available is equal to (the average cost of attendance at the school) multiplied by (the above limit for scholarships). The team/athletic department may then divide that total amount of money amongst varsity team members however it chooses.

Check Out:

NAIA Financial Aid Guidelines

What is the National Letter of Intent?

The NCAA manages the daily operations of the NLI program while the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) provides governance oversight of the program. Started in 1964 with seven conferences and eight independent institutions, the program now includes 652 Division I and Division II participating institutions.

The NLI is a voluntary program with regard to both institutions and student-athletes. No prospective student-athlete or parent is required to sign the NLI and no institution is required to join the program.

The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution.

A prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).
The institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).

The penalty for not fulfilling the NLI agreement: A student-athlete has to serve one year in residence (full-time, two semesters or three quarters) at the next NLI member institution and lose one season of competition in all sports.

An important provision of the NLI program is a recruiting prohibition applied after a prospective student-athlete signs the NLI. This prohibition requires member institutions to cease recruitment of a prospective student-athlete once an NLI is signed with another institution.

What is the difference between the NLI and a "verbal commitment"?
A verbal commitment happens when you verbally agree to play sports for a college before you sign or are eligible to sign a National Letter of Intent. The commitment is not binding on you or the school.

Check Out:

Quick Reference Guide to the NLI

NCAA Eligibility Website
NCAA Eligibility Center
- Register for an account
- Have your SAT or ACT scores forwarded directly to the NCAA Eligibility Center (by using code “9999").
- At the end of your junior year, request an official transcript from each high school attended and send to the Eligibility Center.
NCAA Eligibility Center Registration Checklist
NCAA Eligibility Center FAQs
College-Bound Student-Athlete presentation from NCAA Eligibility Center
NCAA D1 & D2 Worksheet
More about NCAA eligibility, recruiting rules, and core classes
NCAA Guide for the Recruitable Athlete (PDF)
NAIA Eligibility Website
Estimated Probability of Competing in College Athletics - NCAA statistics, by sport, on the probability of playing past high school
NJCAA Website
Free Recruiting Webinar

Guide For College Bound Athletes

NCAA Eligibility Center (Registration)

NAIA Eligibility Center (Registration)