Step 4: The NCAA part 1

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the governing body for all sports at colleges across the country. If you want to be a student-athlete, you will need to get certified to play a sport by going through the Initial Eligibility Center.
Click the link to the left to register:The NCAA Initial Eligibility Center

The NCAA will evaluate your academic record ( i.e your transcript and test scores) to see if you will meet the minimum standards to be a student athlete.
Below is the details from the NCAA on the minimum standard for a division 1 school.

NCAA ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Students who wish to participate in collegiate athletics at the Division I or II level must apply for certification with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Clearinghouse after their junior year in high school. Your high school counselors can assist students in completing the paperwork necessary in this process.

To be certified by the Clearinghouse, you must:

• Graduate from high school.
You should apply for certification after your junior year in high school if you are sure you wish to participate in intercollegiate athletics as a freshman at a Division I. The Clearinghouse will issue a preliminary certification report after you have had all your materials submitted. After you graduate, if your eligibility status is requested by a member institution, the Clearinghouse will review your final transcript to make a final certification decision according to NCAA standards.

• Complete the 16 (Division I) core courses listed below.

Core Units Required for NCAA Certification
Subject - Units Required
English Core - 4 Years
Math Core - 3 Years ( Alg. 1 or Above)
Science Core - 2 Years
Additional Eng/Math/Sci - 1 Year
Social Science Core - 2 Years
Additional Academic Courses from Approved List - 4 Years
Total 16

• Present a minimum required grade point average in your core courses. Only courses that are on ’s “List of NCAA Approved Core Courses” can be used to calculate your NCAA g.p.a. No special values are allowed for “+” or “-“ grades.

• Achieve a combined SAT or ACT sum score that meets the requirements for Division I

Division I - A student must have at least a 2.0 GPA in 16 CORE academic courses AND the required SAT or ACT score based on the test score sliding scale on the following page.


Division I Core GPA/Test Score Index
(To be used with 16 core courses)

Core GPA - SAT - ACT
3.550 & above - 400 - 37
3.525 - 410 - 38
3.500 - 420 - 39
3.475 - 430 - 40
3.450 - 440 - 41
3.425 - 450 - 41
3.400 - 460 - 42
3.375 - 470 - 42
3.350 - 480 - 43
3.325 - 490 - 44
3.300 - 500 - 44
3.275 - 510 - 45
3.250 - 520 - 46
3.225 - 530 - 46
3.200 - 540 - 47
3.175 - 550 - 47
3.150 - 560 - 48
3.125 - 570 - 49
3.100 - 580 - 49
3.075 - 590 - 50
3.050 - 600 - 50
3.025 - 610 - 51
3.000 - 620 - 52
2.975 - 630 - 52
2.950 - 640 - 53
2.925 - 650 - 53
2.900 - 660 - 54
2.875 - 670 - 55
2.850 - 680 - 56
2.825 - 690 - 56
2.800 - 700 - 57
2.775 - 710 - 58
2.750 - 720 - 59
2.725 - 730 - 59
2.700 - 730 - 60
2.675 - 740-750 - 61
2.650 - 760 - 62
2.625 - 770 - 63
2.600 - 780 - 64
2.575 - 790 - 65
2.550 - 800 - 66
2.525 - 810 - 67
2.500 - 820 - 68
2.475 - 830 - 69
2.450 - 840-850 - 70
2.425 - 860 - 70
2.400 - 860 - 71
2.375 - 870 - 72
2.350 - 880 - 73
2.325 - 890 - 74
2.300 - 900 - 75
2.275 - 910 - 76
2.250 - 920 - 77
2.225 - 930 - 78
2.200 - 940 - 79
2.175 - 950 - 80
2.150 - 960 - 80
2.125 - 960 - 81
2.100 - 970 - 82
2.075 - 980 - 83
2.050 - 990 - 84
2.025 - 1000 - 85
2.000 - 1010 - 86

To learn how the NCAA determines your eligibility, click here for Step 5