Academic Requirements

To play sports at a Division I or II school, you must graduate from high school, complete 16 NCAA-approved core courses, earn a minimum GPA and earn an ACT or SAT score that matches your core-course GPA.

Core Courses

Only courses that appear on your high school’s list of NCAA core courses will count toward the 16 core-course requirement; visit eligibilitycenter.org/courselist for a full list of your high school’s approved core courses. Complete 16 core courses in the following areas:

Division I and II

Complete 10 NCAA core courses, including seven in English, math or natural/physical science, before your seventh semester.

Grade Point Average Standards

The NCAA Eligibility Center calculates your grade-point average based only on the grades you earn in NCAA-approved core courses

• DI requires a minimum 2.3 GPA
• DII requires a minimum 2.2 GPA

SAT / ACT Standards

You may take the SAT or ACT an unlimited number of times before you enroll full time in college. NCAA will take either the best sub-score from different tests to give you your highest score.

Academic High School Timeline

9th Grade

• Sign up for the eligibility center.
• Start planning to take the right courses.

10th Grade

• Talk to your counselor and have them upload your official transcript to the eligibility center
• Keep track of our eligibility status

11th Grade

• Take ACT/SAT and submit your Score to the eligibility center
• Ask your counselor to upload a new transcript to your eligibility center

12th Grade

• Retake SAT/ACT and submit new scores (sub-score)
• Ask your counselor to upload your final official transcript to eligibility center