We created an NCAA Eligibility Center Checklist for student-athletes in order to provide a timeline of what you should be doing—and when—to ensure you’re on track to meet the NCAA eligibility requirements.
The NCAA Eligibility Center is responsible for determining the academic eligibility and amateurism status for all student-athletes who are trying to compete at the Division 1 and Division 2 levels. It’s the student-athlete’s responsibility to understand the NCAA academic requirements—including the NCAA GPA requirements—as well as the amateurism requirements to make sure they are on track to meet and maintain their eligibility.
While the NCAA is not responsible for making sure student-athletes meet NCAA requirements, they do allow student-athletes to work with their high school guidance counselors and school administrators to make sure they are on track—whether in taking the necessary courses, hitting a certain GPA or sending transcripts to the NCAA in a timely manner—to meet and maintain their eligibility in order to compete at the college level.
Click on the links below to see what should be done during each year in high school:
Insider Tip: You need to complete 10 of the 16 required core courses by the end of your junior year (before the start of your seventh semester). Seven of the 10 core courses need to be in English, Math or Natural/Physical Science. The grades in these seven courses will be “locked in,”—you will not able to retake them to improve your grades.
Insider Tip: The NCAA sliding scale is designed so that if you have a higher GPA, you can have lower SAT/ACT scores—and if you have lower SAT/ACT scores, you can have a lower GPA.