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College Athletic Associations

THE NCAA ORGANIZATION

NCAA Organization: www.ncaa.org
Division I - 350 schools
  • Scholarships, largest budgets, 20 hour/week time commitment minium
Division II - 300 Schools
  • Scholarships, smaller budgets, similar time commitment as DI schools
Division III - 440 Schools
  • No athletic scholarships, small budgets, smaller time commitiment
 

NCAA ELIGIBILITY CENTER

NCAA Eligibility Center certifies the academic and amateur credentials of all college bound student-athletes who wish to compete in NCAA Division I or II athletics.
 
Division I Academic "Qualifier"- Registration Checklist
  • Complete 16 core courses.
  • Ten of the 16 core courses must be completed before the start of the seventh semester (senior year) of high school.
  • Seven of the 10 core courses must be English, Math, or Natural or Physical Science.
  • Grades earned in the 10 courses required before the seventh semester are "locked in" for purposes of GPA calculation.
    • A repeat of any of the "locked in" courses will not be used in improve the GPA if the repeat occurs after the seventh semester begins.
  • Have a minimum core-course GPA of 2.300. More info at 2-point-3
  • Meet the sliding scale of GPA and ACT/SAT score. More info at NCAA Student athlete test scores
  • Graduate from high school
Division I Core Course Requirements
  • 4 years of English
  • 3 years of Math (Algebra I or higher)
  • 2 years of Natural/Physical science (1 year lab)
  • 1 year of additional English, Math, or Science
  • 2 years of Social Science
  • 4 years of additional courses (any area above, foreign language or comparative religion/philosophy)
 

NATIONAL ATHLETIC INTERCOLLEGIATE ASSOCIATION (NAIA)

NAIA: www.naia.org 
NAIA Facts
  • 77,000 student-athletes
  • 27 different men's and women's National Championships
  • More than 250 colleges and universities and 21 conferences
  • $800 million in athletic scholarships
  • Smaller schools, often religious-based
 
NAIA Eligibility Center: www.playnaia.org
 
PlayNAIA.org helps students and coaches connect and can support scholastic endeavors. Every student-athlete must register with the NAIA Eligibility Center to play sports at an NAIA college or university. 
 
NAIA Eligibility Requirements: (Meet 2 out of 3 of the following)
  • Test Score - TBD
  • High School GPA - Minimum 2.0 out of 4.0
  • Class Rank - Top 50% of class
 

NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (NJCAA)

NJCAA - 2 year schools: www.njcaa.org
  • 525 schools
  • Offer athletic sholarships
 

CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (CCCAA)

CCCAA - 2 year schools: www.cccaasports.org 
  • 108 schools
  • No athletic scholarships
Tesoro's School Counselor's do not upload Transcripts for you to the NCAA. You must go to Transcript Request and request a transcript be sent to the NCAA.
 

ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

NCAA STUDENT ATHLETE GUIDE