The Division I and Division II initial-eligibility requirements have changed.
If you plan to enter college in 2003 or 2004, you may use either the current rule or the new rule. The clearinghouse will evaluate your transcript under the new rule first. If you are not eligible under that rule, the clearinghouse will then evaluate your transcript under the current rule.
WHAT IS THE NEW RULE? The new requirements increase the number of required core courses from 13 to 14. The additional course may come from any of the following areas: English, mathematics, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, non-doctrinal religion, philosophy or computer science. Please see the important notice below about the elimination of computer science.
The new requirements also include a revision in the Division I initial-eligibility index, or sliding scale.
If you plan to enter college in 2005 or after, your eligibility will be determined under the new rule only. That means that you must have 14 core courses to be eligible to practice, play and receive financial aid at a Division I or Division II school.
If you plan to enter college in 2008 or after, you will need to present 16 core courses in the following breakdown:
Comments regarding these newly adopted rules may be sent to: academics@ncaa.org.
Effective May 1, 2003, all students who do not meet the NCAA initial-eligibility requirements and who wish to apply for a waiver of those requirements must have the waiver filed on their behalf by an NCAA institution. Students with disabilities will no longer be able to self-file waivers. The elimination of self-filed waivers is due to the large number of such waivers filed by individuals who did not attend an NCAA institution and did not participate in athletics. Also, since athletics department staff members are familiar with the waiver procedure and paperwork, those individuals are better suited to process such waiver applications in a fast and effective manner.
Prospective student athletes from the states of Illinois and Colorado should note that the ACT state test given to all juniors CANNOT be used for NCAA initial-eligibility purposes.
NCAA Division I and Division II rules require that the ACT or SAT test be taken on a national testing date. The state tests are not given on a national testing date and therefore cannot be used for NCAA initial-eligibility purposes.
If you are a prospective student-athlete from Illinois or Colorado and have taken only an ACT state test, you will not be eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics your first year at an NCAA Division I or II institution.
Computer science courses will no longer be able to be used for initial-eligibility purposes. This rule is effective August 1, 2005, for students first entering a collegiate institution on or after August 1, 2005. Computer science courses (such as programming) that are taught through the mathematics or natural/physical science departments and receive either math or science credit may be used after the August 1, 2005 date.
Prospective student-athletes may register with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse on-line. Simply go to the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse Web site by clicking here or on the clearinghouse link on the right side of this page. By registering on-line, prospects will be able to view their eligibility information on-line, and will not have to call the clearinghouse for eligibility updates. On-line registration saves time, and allows prospective student-athletes to view their eligibility status up to six weeks faster than through the paper registration process.
Comments or suggestions regarding this page may be sent to academics@ncaa.org. Specific questions regarding any of the information on this page may be answered by contacting the NCAA Membership Services staff at 317/917-6222.