The Student Athlete (part 2): Understanding Eligibility
Is your student eligible to participate in college sports? That's the question we're going to unpack today.
It turns out that you don't actually have to have played your sport in high school in order to participate in college athletics - though it certainly helps! In other words, "talent" and ability requirements for athletics eligibility are set by the individual teams and their programs. Rather, the eligibility rules I'd like to talk about today are those set by the organisations that regulate college athletics - the NCAA and the NAIA, for example. These eligibility rules exist to create fairness in competition for student-athletes.
Some examples of eligibility rules... For one, you have to be in good academic standing. You can't, for example, be enrolled in just 1 class while other competitors have to manage academics + athletics as full-time students; this would create an unfair situation. For another, you can't be a professional athlete in your sport and try to compete at the college level. That again would create an unfair competitive advantage.
There are eligibility requirements you must meet before college, in order to move from high school to college athletics, and other requirements you must continue to meet after you've enrolled in college, to remain eligible. Let's dive in.
Do This First: Eligibility Center Registration
The most important action for you to take is to register your high school athlete for eligibility via the NCAA’s eligibility center - http://eligibilitycenter.org. The NCAA’s guidance is that you can do this beginning as early as 9th grade. The eligibility center helps you track pre-college academic requirements as well as establish that you're an amateur athlete.
Eligibility Before College Athletics (HS Requirements)
Prior to participating in college athletics, you must meet certain requirements:
Completion of a minimum # of courses that meet academic standards (NCAA Division I and II).
This requirement varies slightly across NCAA divisions, but if you are taking 4 years of English, Math, Science, and Social Science / Other (like a foreign language) you’re likely to be on track.
Note that many popular courses that athletes take - like PE and weightlifting, for example - don’t count towards these requirements.
High school academic requirements are standardised across NCAA Division I and again with Division II. This document from the NCAA has all the details - http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Student_Resources/CBSA.pdf Division III academic requirements are set by the individual colleges and universities.
Use this NCAA website to understand which courses are approved as "core courses" at your high school - https://web3.ncaa.org/hsportal/exec/hsAction?hsActionSubmit=searchHighS.
Minimum high school GPA, again varying by NCAA division you intend to participate in (NCAA Division I and II).
This is not the GPA on your transcript, but rather a GPA calculated based on what the NCAA deems as core classes that meet academic standards (see prior bullet point above).
NCAA Division I athletes must have a 2.3 core course GPA, Division II athletes a 2.2.
Certify that you are not a professional athlete.
There are also age limitations to compete in college athletics. NOTE: There used to be a standardised testing eligibility requirement (SAT, ACT). This has been removed as of 2023. However, recently a few colleges and universities have reinstated standardised testing as a requirement for admission following moving to optional during COVID, e.g. University of Texas at Austin, a few of the Ivy League colleges such as Yale and Dartmouth, etc... If you are looking to participate in athletics at these institutions you will need to submit test scores (to those schools) as part of your admission packet (the scores will not be part of a NCAA eligibility requirement).
Details of all eligibility requirements are in this guide from NCAA - http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Student_Resources/CBSA.pdf.
Eligibility During College Athletics (Ongoing Requirements)
Once you are attending college, there are differences in requirements across Divisions I, II, and III with respect to minimum credit hours, GPA, etc… that impact your ongoing eligibility. The intention of these rules is to ensure that student athletes are being both students and athletes in college, and are generally on track to graduate. You can find all of the details here - https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/2/10/student-athletes-current-staying-track-graduate.aspx.
The most common question that arises has to do with years of eligibility... specifically, how many seasons of college athletics can the student athlete participate in?
NCAA rules allow for 5 years of athletics eligibility. That is, in NCAA Division I you have 5 calendar years to play 4 seasons. The clock begins from the day of enrollment full-time at the college. In Divisions II and III, you have 10 semesters (or 15 quarters) in which you’re enrolled as a full-time student to complete your 4 seasons.
Understanding Eligibility: Special Circumstances
A few “gotchas” around eligibility that are worth mentioning:
Delayed Enrollment and Gap Years. Some high school athletes choose to delay the start of their 4 years of competition - by taking a year off of competition between high school and college - in order to continue training and improving in their sport, to try to gain more playing time, or just to have some space before jumping into college. Whatever the reason, pay particular attention to the NCAA’s rules and regulations so that you don’t lose eligibility. This specifically means that (a) you want to preserve your status as an amateur athlete, so be careful about who you are training with, tryouts, and the like and (b) make sure you enroll in college within the “grace period”, which is 12 months for most sports but only 6 months for tennis, for example.
Redshirting. Similar to the above, you may choose to take a gap year in eligibility during your time in college as a student athlete. That is, you still practice with your college team but do not participate in competition. As of 2018, there is a "four game rule", where you can still compete in some games and redshirt during a season. Redshirting is only available as an option in some NCAA Divisions. There is fine print. Net, make sure you really understand the rules prior to trying to pursue having a redshirt season.
Transferring. If you are thinking about attending multiple colleges as an athlete, there are specific rules governing eligibility post-transfer. Spoiler alert, it’s a 19-page guide: http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Transfer/FourYearGuide.pdf.
Enrolling in College Early. Some highly recruited college athletes may wish to enroll in college early, typically the spring of (what would have been) their senior year in high school. There are additional requirements you must meet, including being an early academic qualifier. This website provides a good overview - https://honestgame.com/blog/what-to-consider-before-you-decide-to-graduate-early/.
Last, what’s different between NCAA and NAIA eligibility rules? Slightly different GPA requirements, there’s no age limit, etc… This website has a list - https://honestgame.com/blog/naia-vs-ncaa/.
