Mahopac Central School District

College-bound student-athletes first entering an NCAA Division I college or university on or after August 1, 2016, will need to meet new academic rules in order to receive athletics aid (scholarship), practice or compete during their first year.

What are the New Requirements?

*To view the Full Qualifier and Academic Redshirt sliding scales, please click here.
**International prospective student-athletes who present international graduation credentials listed in the NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility will be exempt from meeting the seventh semester core course distribution requirements.

Full Qualifier: A college-bound student-athlete may receive athletics aid (scholarship), practice and compete in the first year of enrollment at the Division I college or university.

Academic Redshirt: A college-bound student-athlete may receive athletics aid (scholarship) in the first year of enrollment and may practice in the first regular academic term (semester or quarter) but may NOT compete in the first year of enrollment. After the first term is complete, the college-bound student-athlete must be academically successful at his/her college or university to continue to practice for the rest of the year.

Nonqualifier: A college-bound student-athlete cannot receive athletics aid (scholarship), cannot practice and cannot compete in the first year of enrollment.

Examples

Q: A college-bound student-athlete completes nine core courses prior to the seventh semester of high school. What is the college-bound student-athlete’s initial-eligibility status?

A: The college-bound student-athlete cannot be certified as a qualifier because only nine of the 10 required courses were completed before the seventh semester. He/she would be permitted to practice and receive aid (scholarship), provided he/she presents 16 core courses and meets the necessary core-course GPA and test score requirement at the time of graduation.

Q: A college-bound student-athlete completes 16 core courses in the required framework with a 2.500 core-course GPA and a 68 sum ACT. What is the college-bound student-athlete’s initial-eligibility status?

A: The college-bound student-athlete is an academic redshirt. Under the new competition scale, a 68 sum ACT score requires a 2.950 core-course GPA. See sliding scale, please click here.

Q: A college-bound student-athlete completes 15 core courses with a 2.500 core-course GPA and an 820 SAT score (critical reading and math). What is the college-bound student-athlete’s NCAA initial-eligibility status?

A: The college-bound student-athlete is a nonqualifier because only 15 core courses were completed, not the required 16 core courses.

International prospective student-athletes who present international graduation credentials listed in the NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility will be exempt from meeting the seventh semester.

Academic Standards

The NCAA Eligibility Center verifies the academic and amateur status of all student-athletes who wish to compete in Division I or II athletics.

College-bound student-athletes who want to practice, compete and receive athletically related financial aid during their first year at a Division I or II school need to meet the following requirements:

• Graduate from high school.
• Complete a minimum of 16 core courses for Division I or 14 core courses for Division II. After August 1, 2013, student-athletes who wish to compete at Division II institutions must complete 16 core courses.
• Earn a minimum required grade-point average in core courses.
• Earn a qualifying test score on either the ACT or SAT.
• Request final amateurism certification from the NCAA Eligibility Center.

For Division I student-athletes who will enroll in August 2016 and later, the requirements to compete in the first year will change. In addition to the above standards, prospects must:

• Earn at least a 2.3 grade-point average in core courses.
• Meet an increased sliding-scale standard (for example, an SAT score of 1,000 requires a 2.5 high school core course GPA)
• Successfully complete 10 of the 16 total required core courses before the start of their senior year in high school. Seven of the 10 courses must be successfully completed in English, math and science.

Prospects that earn at least a 2.0 GPA but not a 2.3 GPA and meet the current sliding scale standard (for example, an SAT score of 1,000 requires a 2.025 high school core course GPA) will be eligible for practice in the first term and athletically related financial aid the entire year, but not competition. Freshmen who are academically successful in the first term will earn the ability to continue to practice for the remainder of the year.

Division III college and universities set their own admission standards. The NCAA does not set initial eligibility requirements in Division III.

For more detail about academic requirements visit the Eligibility Center.