Many high school athletes dream of playing their sport at the college level. Whether they hope to play alongside talented teammates, wear the uniform and school colors of a long-time favorite college team, or use their athletic skills and talents to help fund their education, student athletes are often highly motivated to get noticed, recruited, and continue their athletic careers beyond high school.    

While most student athletes and their families deeply understand the importance of hard work on and off the court or field, many do not realize that there are special requirements for NCAA eligibility that can differ from high school graduation requirements. It is critical that students with aspirations to play sports in college learn about these considerations early in high school, connect with counselors and coaches early so the school is aware of their interest to play in college, and make strategic plans to both fulfill the necessary steps and not violate specific regulations. 

School staff and counselors can play an important role in educating student athletes and their families on what is required academically to achieve their NCAA dreams–and help to monitor progress–as they plan and prepare for college.

Helping Students Understand the NCAA Eligibility Landscape 

Division I and Division II schools have explicit requirements to be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center that fall into two key categories: academic and amateurism standards. Academic standards require students to complete a specific number of core academic courses by graduation. Because eligibility rests on the completion of these courses, anyone hoping for an opportunity to play at the college level must learn about the specific course requirements and make a course plan across their four years of high school. Amateurism standards require that a student athlete does not participate in certain experiences associated with getting paid or with professional teams prior to college-level play and it is critical that students do not unwittingly do this, compromising their eligibility. 

Counselors and coaches can help communicate NCAA rules and requirements to rising 9th grade college-bound student athletes and their families to encourage a strategic four-year plan for both academics and athletics. As a first step, students should create a free Profile Page account in the NCAA Eligibility Center. And students who are being actively recruited should transition that account to a certification account (for a fee). Counselors might share this NCAA information at a course planning event for incoming 9th graders, encourage coaches to communicate information about NCAA eligibility to any interested players, and include NCAA details in information shared about college and career readiness and future planning.

Communicating Core Course Requirements 

Student athletes must complete 16 core courses across their four years of high school to be eligible to play at a Division I or Division II college. Core courses include subjects such as English, Math (Algebra I or higher), Science, Social Studies, World Language, Comparative Religion, and Philosophy, though not all high school courses are NCAA-approved. Counselors can share these guides with students and families to help them understand the full array of course requirements: 

• NCAA Division I Academic Standards
• NCAA Division II Academic Standards 

Though many of these requirements overlap with graduation requirements in most districts and states, it is critical that students are aware and tracking how their course selections map onto both sets of required courses. Counselors can help students and families use this database to determine which courses count as core courses and ensure those courses are completed on time. Counselors might add a tracker for NCAA requirements to course selection documents or a way to annotate NCAA-approved core courses on a comprehensive course listing shared with students and families during each course selection cycle.  

Supporting Student Achievement 

It is vital that students understand that they must maintain a minimum core-course GPA (GPA of 2.3 for Division I; GPA of 2.2 for Division II) in high school to be NCAA eligible and that this core-course GPA differs from the GPA on a student’s record as it includes only the grades from NCAA-approved courses. Counselors might share resources to help students track their courses and core-course GPA and encourage students to recalculate their core-course GPAs after each semester’s grades are complete. 

For student athletes who are struggling academically, counselors might help to set up tutoring or connect them to other types of academic support. Counselors might also help students who are falling behind identify courses they can take to earn those important core course credits. Students who want to play a sport at the college level are often willing to put in extra time and work if they see a path forward. Finding ways to support a college-hopeful student athlete pass a tough course or bring up a borderline grade point average can have lifelong positive impacts on their college and career journey. 

Understanding What Constitutes “Official” Campus Visits 

As student athletes consider where they might have an opportunity to play in college, it can be incredibly valuable to visit specific colleges as part of their exploration process. It is very important to note that for student athletes, these visits have additional layers of rules and requirements. Students and families must understand that a college visit is considered an “official visit” if it is paid for by the school and that they must comply with certain rules and regulations in order to not compromise eligibility. Official visits can cover the costs of transportation, lodging, meals, and reasonable entertainment expenses. These visits must be scheduled at certain points throughout the year and require certain paperwork to be completed; before an official visit, students must be entered on the institutional request list of the school, send the school a transcript, and register with the Eligibility Center. Counselors can help work with coaches to educate student athletes and their families on these processes and requirements and regularly check in to make sure they have support and resources to complete these steps along the way. 

Supporting Students Through the College Application Process

Even if a college is interested in having a student play at their school, the student must still go through the process of applying and being accepted to that college or university in order to attend. With that, students interested in playing sports at the college level need to identify schools of interest, complete any standardized tests required for admission, and submit applications before deadlines. There can be minimum test score requirements that students need to be aware of and, if so, might want to take tests on an early timeline to ensure the opportunity to study and re-rest as needed. Counselors can share resources for test preparation and application essay completion directly with students and families, along with school coaches, to ensure students are aware of ways to access help when needed. 

Helping Student Athletes Realize Their Potential 

A counselor’s job to ensure all students are on track to meet graduation requirements over the course of four years of high school to graduate on time is already overwhelming. Adding the additional work of identifying which students have aspirations to play a sport in college and working with those students to meet the standards to be NCAA eligible and complete the necessary processes can be a Herculean task. 

A robust College and Career Readiness platform can be a gamechanger in this work. SchooLinks has created an NCAA Tracker feature that allows student athletes, counselors, and all stakeholders to keep track of the important steps and procedures necessary to gain initial NCAA eligibility, ensuring that all students interested in pursuing athletics at the college level have access to the information and resources they need all throughout high school. This kind of resource can help counselors communicate information early, prompt regular action, facilitate strategic course planning to ensure requirements are met, automatically calculate the core-course GPA, and ultimately ensure all options and possibilities remain open and that student athletes can reach their fullest potential.