Long before college life begins student-athletes who plan to play Division I sports need to get an early start on planning and ensure that they stay on track to obtaining their goals. In grade 9 student-athletes should already be speaking with their counselors and keeping track of their high school’s NCAA core courses; make sure to take the right classes to ensure eligibility. In grade 10 student-athletes should be registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center and ensure they are meeting the NCAA Core Course requirements. In grade 11 contact should be maintained with school counselors to help ensure that everything is on track to graduate on time and with the required number of NCAA core courses. Grade 11 is also the time to take the SAT or ACT, submitting scores to the NCAA as well as ensuring Official Transcripts are provided to the NCAA Eligibility Center come the end of the year. In grade 12 student-athletes should be completing all NCAA core courses, taking the SAT or ACT again (resubmitting scores if necessary), completing all academic and amateurism questions for their respective NCAA Eligibility Center accounts and ensuring that Official Transcripts as well as proof of graduation are sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center.

NCAA institutions require student-athletes to complete certain core requirements in order to prepare them for the academic expectations of college. Keep in mind that not all high school classes are considered to be NCAA core courses. NCAA core courses include:

English; English 1-4, American Literature, Creative Writing

• English; English 1-4, American Literature, Creative Writing
• Math: Algebra 103, Geometry, Statistics
• Natural of Physical Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
• Social Science: American History, Civics, Government
• Misc: Comparative Religion, Spanish 1-4.

In order to be eligible to participate in NCAA Division I athletics student-athletes must complete, from the above, the following:

• 4 years of English
• 3 years of Math (Algebra 1 or higher)
• 2 years of Natural or Physical Science
• 1 extra year of English, Math or Natural/Physical Science
• 2 years of Social Science
• 4 years of extra courses (can be from any of the above categories or from Foreign Language, Comparative Religion or Philosophy.

To view and print your high school’s list of NCAA courses visit www.eligibilitycenter.org, click the NCAA College Bound Student-Athlete link followed by the “Resources” tab and select “U.S. Students”.

Just remember, to play Division I sports STUDENT-athletes must qualify academically. In order to qualify all student-athletes must first graduate from high school by earning the minimum required number of courses (16 core courses including 10 before your 7^th semester), maintain the required minimum grade point average (2.3 GPA) and earn a combined SAT or ACT score that matches your core-course GPA on the sliding scale.

*Remember; Meeting NCAA academic requirements does not guarantee your admission to college. You must apply for college admission.

For more information on the NCAA visit www.NCAA.org.