College Recruiting Eligibility

One of the most important aspects of your recruiting journey is ensuring you’re eligible to play at the college level. Remember, getting to the next level of play is not only based on your athletic ability — academics are the most important part of your achieve­ments as a student athlete and are the biggest blocker if you haven’t met the basic requirements.

The basic require­ments include:

• Completing a certain number of high school core courses — view a list of approved core courses on the NCAA Eligibility Center High School Portal to see which of your courses will count towards NCAA eligibility, you can also chat with your school counselor or academic advisor
• Earning a certain minimum GPA in these core courses
• Earning a certain minimum SAT or ACT test score
• Graduating from high school

In order to be considered as a potential recruit, you must register with the Eligibility Center the school is associated with. They’ll review your academic course work, SAT or ACT scores and athletic par­tic­i­pa­tion to confirm collegiate sport eligibility. Once you are cleared by the Eligibility Center, you will be cleared to compete at schools falling under the juris­dic­tion of that Eligibility Center.

Remember to revisit your Eligibility Center profile to update your information with new test scores and transcripts when they’re available. We recommend using a personal email address instead of your school email address to make sure you have access to it after you graduate.

United States

NCAA website | Eligibility Center

• About 1,200 schools with 23 sports
• 4-year schools
• Stricter eligibility requirements
• 3 divisions (I, II and III)
• Athletic schol­ar­ships available for Div. I and II schools
  

NAIA website | Eligibility Center

• About 300 schools with 13 sports
• 4-year schools
• 2 divisions (I and II)
• Athletic schol­ar­ships available at over 90% of schools

NJCAA website | Eligibility Center

• About 525 schools with 27 sports
• 2-year schools, then transfer to a 4-year institute (NCAA, NAIA)
• 3 divisions (I, II and III)
• Athletic schol­ar­ships available

CCCAA website | Eligibility Information 

• About 110 schools with 24 sports 
• Majority of students transfer to a 4-year college or university to continue their academic and athletic endeavors
• Academic schol­ar­ships available
  

Canada

CCAA website | Student Athlete Info

U Sports website | Student Athlete Info 

As noted on the NCAA website, ​“Only about 2% of high school student athletes are awarded athletics schol­ar­ships to compete in college. […] Many student athletes also benefit from academic schol­ar­ships and need-based aid such as federal Pell Grants”. If you have questions about what financial aid is offered or can be accepted, contact your school’s financial aid office and athletics department for help.

There are also some instances where athletic based schol­ar­ships are not available, but academic based schol­ar­ships are, such as NCAA Division III and Ivy League schools. Remember to keep the hard work up both at practice and in the classroom.

1. Register with one or more eligibility centers. 
2. Research possible schol­ar­ships (connect with your high school counselor for more information) and learn what require­ments are in place for financial aid opportunities.