Being a Student Athlete really means that Student comes first. If you do not maintain your grades in the classroom while at College, you wont make the team! Even more importantly, and well before you get to College, you must be studying the right subjects to remain Academically Eligible to all Colleges in the USA. Please take your time to consider the information listed below with regard to Academic Eligibility.
To learn of the Sports available at College in North America please click here.
Academic Eligibility:
To be eligible to play sports in the North American College system throughout the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA and qualify for Athletic Scholarship offers from College Coaches you must meet the minimum Academic requirements or else it does not matter how elite of an Athlete you are or how much a College Coach wants to offer you a Scholarship, you WILL NOT be eligible to participate in College Sports.
The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) , NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) all have different academic eligibility criteria which you can learn more about through completing our Contact Form or calling us on one of our International Phone Numbers listed on the website.
**NCAA International Guide to Academic Standards 2018-19**
http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/IS1415.pdf
NCAA Eligibility Criteria:
Student Athletes need to complete their 4 years of high school (Year 9,10,11 and 12) a do at least 16 of the NCAA’s Core Course Subjects (as seen below) to make you eligible to play College Sports throughout the NCAA.
NCAA Div I 16 Core Course Subjects (High School Years)
4 years of English
3 years of Maths (Algebra 1 or higher)
2 years of Natural or Physical Sciences (1 year of lab if offered by high school)
1 years of additional English, Maths or Natural or Physical Sciences
2 years of Social Sciences
4 years of additional courses from ANY of the above courses, Foreign Language or Comparative Religion or Philosophy.
NCAA Div II 16 Core Course Subjects (High School Years)
3 years of English
2 years of Maths (Algebra 1 or higher)
2 years of Natural or Physical Sciences (1 year of lab if offered by high school)
3 years of additional English, Maths or Natural or Physical Sciences
2 years of Social Sciences
4 years of additional courses from ANY of the above courses, Foreign Language or Comparative Religion or Philosophy.
NCAA Div III
While there are no minimum standards or core subject criteria for establishing or maintaining eligibility in NCAA Div III, Student Athletes in this division must be in good Academic standing and make satisfactory progress toward a degree as determined by the College they attend. NCAA Div III Athletics provides a well-rounded collegiate experience that involves a balance of rigorous Academics, competitive Athletics, and the opportunity to pursue the multitude of other co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities offered on Div III campuses. Please Note: Scholarships at Div III Colleges come in the form of grants and academic scholarships making up very competitive packages, there are no Athletic Scholarship awarded at NCAA Div III colleges.
NAIA Eligibility Criteria:
If you will graduate from high school this spring and enrol in college this coming fall, the requirements are simple. High school graduation, plus two out of three of these requirements:
— Achieve a minimum of 18 on the ACT or 860 on the SAT (Critical Reading and Math only.)
— Achieve a minimum overall high school GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.
— Graduate in the top half of your high school class.
**NAIA International Guide to Academic Standards 2018-19**
https://www.playnaia.org/d/NAIA_GuideforInternationalStudents.pdf
***In March 2016, the College Board implemented its redesigned SAT college admissions test, the first major change since 2005.***
NAIA SAT standards for initial eligibility
• If a student took the SAT before March 2016, the minimum accepted score is 860.
• If the SAT was taken in March 2016 or after, the minimum accepted score is 940.*
*Students who scored between 860 and 930 on the March 2016 or later SAT test will be granted an automatic exception to the SAT test score minimum to compete during the 2016-17 academic year. The NAIA Eligibility Center will automatically apply this SAT test score minimum exception in the eligibility determination process.
**IMPORTANT NOTES TO CONSIDER**
SAT and ACT exam information:
Colleges (Universities), the NCAA and NAIA throughout North America require you do take either an ACT or SAT exam for both College acceptance and your sporting eligibility.
SAT exam is a standardized test for admission into most Universities in North America. College Board are the people who own, publish and develop the SAT exam which is cheaper for North American Student Athletes than Internationals. Please confirm final price of exams with sat.collegeboard.org
The SAT is scored out of 1600 in two main components which are Maths and Evidence Based Reading & Writing with a maximum score being 1600. The SAT exam lasts for 3hours and 45mins.
ACT exam is a National College Admissions test with four categories consisting of English, Reading, Maths and Science. The ACT exam is accepted by all four year Colleges and Universities in the NCAA and NAIA.
Exam time is 3 hours and 30 mins or just over 4 hours if you are taking the optional ACT Plus Writing exam if certain College entrance requirements are applicable.
Differences between the SAT and ACT exam?
The SAT exam style is an aptitude test covering reasoning and verbal abilities of Students, where as the ACT exam is an achievement test measuring what a Student has actually learned throughout high school.
The NCAA has a sliding Academic scale which compares GPA (high school Grade Point Average) and the required SAT scores a Student Athlete must achieve in order to be eligible for competition. For all international Student Athletes, their high school report cards (transcripts) will be converted into an American equivalent grade in order to receive an American GPA once sent into the NCAA or NAIA.
**Quick Reference link for NCAA sliding scale for GPA and SAT Comparisons**
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Quick_Reference_Sheet.pdf
NJCAA (Junior College)
The NJCAA has different Academic criteria to the NCAA and NAIA which is generally less strict in nature. For international Student Athletes to understand Junior College is where you can study a two year Associates degree which is a “stepping stone” or “building block” into a four year NCAA or NAIA University.
Junior College (NJCAA) College Sports eligibility is for two years at which point Student Athletes transfer and complete their third and fourth years at a four year institution such as a College in the NCAA or NAIA.
There is no SAT or ACT criteria for NJCAA eligibility and a Student Athletes’ GPA can afford to be a grade lower on average then the NCAA or NAIA criteria. There are no eligibility checks for NJCAA clearance other then the checks on Student Athletes completed by admissions department at the individual Colleges in the NJCAA.
Amateurism and Eligibility
Being an Amateur as a Student Athlete remains the core principle of ALL College Sports, the NCAA, NAIA and the NJCAA. Keeping your amateurism as a Student Athlete is crucial to preserving an environment of “Student first, Athlete second” and is the bedrock of the entire Collegiate Sports model throughout North American Universities.
All incoming Student Athletes must be certified as Amateurs which is done through the NCAA and NAIA eligibility centres. With international recruiting becoming more and more common determining the Amateurism of Student Athletes can be challenging for the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA colleges. Every Student Athlete around the world is required to adhere to the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA amateurism criteria to remain eligible to compete in College Sports.
Generally amateurism criteria does NOT allow:
– Contracts signed with professional teams
– Salary for participating in sports
– Prize money above the actual and necessary incurred expenses
– Playing on the same team as professional athletes
– Tryouts, practice or competition with a professional team
– Benefits from an agent or prospective agent
– Agreement to be represented by an agent
– Delayed initial full-time college enrolment to participate in other organized sports competition