NCAA Eligibility...Are You on the Right Track?


Whether you are a potential DI/D2 student-athlete, a parent of one, or you know someone who might participate in college sports, this information will be important for you. In order to play a sport in college (D1/D2 only), the student must be eligible. Eligibility is measured by a sliding scale, with the lowest possible GPA being a 2.0. With a 2.0, the student must achieve a 1010 (Math and CR only) on the SAT's to be eligible. From there, the higher a student's GPA, the lower their SAT needs to be in order to be eligible. 

 However, starting with high school class of 2015 (current sophomores), it will get just a little harder to become eligible to participate in Division 1 sports right out of high school. The NCAA eligibility center has decided to increase their eligibility standards for Division 1 athletes. These new rules will go into effect starting August 1, 2015. Whereas students prior to 2015 needed a minimum core GPA of 2.0 and 1010 SAT (Math and Critical Reading) or an ACT combined score of 86 in order to participate in competition, students after 2015 will need a minimum core GPA of 2.3 and 1080 SAT, or an ACT combined score of 93 to participate in their first year. 
There also is a new rule put in place to 'redshirt' incoming freshmen. With the present eligibility rules, a student-athlete was either eligible or not eligible. Now there will be three outcomes: Eligible to compete right away (Full Qualifier), not eligible at all (Nonqualifer), and eligible to join team and practice, but not compete in first year (redshirt). Now this is where it becomes tricky! The sliding scale (core GPA with SAT or ACT) for the redshirt option is very similar to the present regular eligibility scale, except the SAT requirement has gone up 10 points for each GPA (i.e. 2.0 GPA will require 1020 SAT). However, the combined ACT score has stayed the same (i.e. 2.0 GPA will require 86 combined score).   
The final change for students to be eligible as full qualifiers is that 10 of their 16 core courses must be completed and “locked in” by the start of their senior year. In the present format, students can use any of their approved classes for eligibility purposes until high school graduation.
For those who do not know, the core GPA is calculated from 16 approved courses throughout a student’s high school career. Not every course a student takes will be approved by the NCAA; therefore it cannot be used in the core GPA calculation. Courses that must be used for the core GPA are 4 years of English, 3 years of mathematics, 2 years of science (1 year with lab), 1 year additional English, mathematics, or science, 2 years of social science, and four years of additional approved courses (i.e. foreign language, social sciences, philosophy etc.). Once a core GPA is established a student must have at least the minimum SAT/ACT score associated with that GPA. Sliding scales can be found online, or by visiting the NCAA eligibility website at www.eligibilitycenter.org .
Once again, these new eligibility standards will not go into effect until August 1st of 2015, which are current high school sophomores. As always, if you have any questions about NCAA eligibility please do not hesitate to contact your counselor to make sure you are on track to being eligible!

 -Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

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