How to Determine Your NCAA Eligibility

Impact of COVID-19 on NCAA eligibility: The NCAA Eligibility Center loosened standards for students who initially enroll full-time during the 2021–22 academic year and intend to play D1 or D2 sports. Students won’t be required to take the ACT or SAT by the NCAA. Additionally, the use of pass/fail grades for core course requirements has been extended through the 2020–21 academic year. To keep track of updates that will impact eligibility for current and future recruiting classes, NCSA will continue to share information on our coronavirus resources page.  

The NCAA Eligibility Center is the arm of the NCAA responsible for determining the academic eligibility and amateurism status for all DI and DII student-athletes. Previously, this part of the NCAA was called the NCAA Clearinghouse, but now, the NCAA Clearinghouse and NCAA Eligibility Center are the same process. See how the NCAA track and field process works.

The most important thing to understand as a prospective student-athlete is that the NCAA is there to determine your eligibility, not to provide guidance on how to get or maintain your college eligibility. It is the responsibility of the student-athlete to understand the academic and amateurism requirements and make sure they are on track to meet those requirements with the help of their high school guidance counselor and school administrators.

NCAA Eligibility Center checklist

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Links to important resources

• 2019/20 NCAA Guide for the College Bound Student Athlete
• How to send SAT results to the NCAA
• How to send ACT results to the NCAA
• NCAA Eligibility Center

NCAA Certification Account or Profile page: What type of NCAA account is right for you?

If you are actively being recruited at the NCAA DI or DII level, or you are very confident you will be competing at that level out of high school, you should register with the NCAA and create a Certification Account. If you aren’t sure of your division level, you should create an NCAA Profile page so you can easily transition to a Certification Account if needed.

What is the purpose of the NCAA Eligibility Center?

For prospective college student-athletes, the NCAA Eligibility Center is the part of the NCAA that will ensure you meet the minimum academic requirements and are considered an amateur athlete. It does this by reviewing your high school transcripts (official copies only), SAT/ACT test scores and reviewing the answers to your amateurism questionnaire. In rare situations, the NCAA will require additional information surrounding your high school classes or athletic competition, but most athletes pass through the NCAA Eligibility Center without incident.

How do I register for the NCAA Eligibility Center?

The NCAA has a very user-friendly website at the NCAA Eligibility Center. Give yourself at least 15-30 minutes to complete the initial registration. Before your register with the NCAA, make sure you have a valid email address you will have access to after high school. If you are creating a Certification Account, you will need a method of payment for the account.

How do you get an NCAA number?

Go to the NCAA Eligibility Center website and create either a Certification Account or Profile page and complete the initial registration process. Allow at least 15-20 minutes to complete the initial registration.

NCAA Eligibility requirements

• Academic Requirements – Complete 16 core courses, have a minimum GPA of 2.3 (for DI) or 2.2 (for DII) in those core courses, and meet the minimums of the sliding scale in your combination of core course GPA and SAT/ACT test scores.
• Amateurism Requirements – Athletes cannot obtain amateurism status if they have received compensation that exceeds actual and necessary expenses. Athletes also cannot accept payment for media appearances based on their athletic ability, endorsing commercial products or accept prize money beyond actual/necessary expenses. Learn more about amateurism requirements.

How long does the NCAA Eligibility Center take?

You are not officially done with the NCAA Eligibility Center process until you are done with high school and officially declared eligible at your DI or DII institution. There are three phases to the NCAA Eligibility Center process you will need to check in to make sure you are on track:

1. Creating a Certification Account – This should happen your freshman or sophomore year of high school.
2. Having up-to-date transcripts after your junior year – The NCAA requires prospective DI athletes to complete 10 core courses before the start of your final semester of high school. 7 of these courses need to be in English, math and natural or physical science. Additionally, your core course GPA will be “locked in” at this time – you won’t be allowed to retake these classes to improve your grades.
3. Sending in final transcripts and requesting final amateurism certification – After you have completed high school, you will send your final transcripts and request your final amateurism certification.

How do I contact the NCAA Eligibility Center?

For students and parents with eligibility questions:

• 877-262-1492 (toll free)
• 317-917-6222

Transcript/Document Mailing Address

• NCAA Eligibility Center
• Certification Processing
• P.O. Box 7136
• Indianapolis, IN 46207

Overnight/Express Mailing Address

• NCAA Eligibility Center
• Certification Processing
• 1802 Alonzo Watford Sr. Drive
• Indianapolis, IN 46202

Customer Service Hours

• 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time
• Monday through Friday
• Fax number: 317-968-5100
• Toll-free phone number (U.S. callers and Canada except Quebec): 877-262-1492

International Students

• NCAA Eligibility Center International Contact Form

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