Find out the minimum GPA requirements to play your sport in each NCAA division.
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When registering for your NCAA Eligibility Number, you must send your academic information, including your official high school transcript. Depending on the NCAA Division you want to compete in, you may also need a certain grade point average (GPA) to be academically eligible.
It’s important to note that the NCAA will only consider your GPA for your “core courses." Here, we break down exactly what is needed for NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II to be academically eligible.
If you want to play for an NCAA Division I program, you need a 2.3 GPA or higher in your core courses. These core courses include:
If you want to play for an NCAA Division II program, you need a 2.2 GPA or higher in your core courses. These core courses include:
NCAA Division III does not have a specific minimum GPA requirement mandated by the NCAA itself. However, individual schools within Division III may have their own academic standards and GPA requirements for admission and participation in athletics. Make sure you are on track by checking in with the school's admissions team.
The NCAA Eligibility Center calculates core courses on a 4.0 scale. Each letter grade is given a point. It’s important to note that the NCAA Eligibility Center does not use + or - when calculating a grade score. For example, a C+ or C- will still be valued at 2 points.
From there, you must determine the quality points for each core course. To do this, multiply the numeric grade by the amount of credit earned. A unit of credit is determined by a semester or trimester. If you have a semester, a unit of credit is 0.05, and a trimester is awarded 0.34 units of credit.
To determine your overall core course GPA, you need to divide the total quality points earned from your core courses by the total number of completed course units.
In 2023, the NCAA Eligibility Center eliminated the SAT and ACT requirements for receiving an NCAA Eligibility Number. Therefore, you do not need to submit these test scores to complete your NCAA eligibility application.
While you may not need an SAT or ACT score for the Eligibility Center, you may need one for the admissions process. Once you start narrowing down your target list, reviewing the admissions requirements for the schools on your list will be important. Some schools may be test-optional, meaning you do not need to submit scores, while others may require them.
Becoming a collegiate athlete is more than just your athletic skills. It will be important to ensure you also put in the work in the classroom. To ensure you are on the right track, take the time each year to meet with your academic advocates, including your teachers, college counselors, and guidance counselors.
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