NCAA INITIAL ELIGIBILITY: ACADEMICS & AMATEURISM Susanna Tamol Compliance Assistant Sun Devil Athletics August 30, 2012

NCAA ELIGIBILITY CENTER Required of ALL student-athletes planning to participate in college athletics at the NCAA Division-I or NCAA Division-II level Covers 2 areas connected to college athletics: – ACADEMICS – AMATEURISM Must be certified by the NCAA in both areas to practice, compete, and receive athletic financial aid in college

CURRENT ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR DIVISION-I ATHLETICS 4 years ENGLISH 3 years MATH (lowest acceptable Math is First- Year Algebra) 2 years NATURAL/PHYSICAL SCIENCE (must include 1 year of Lab Science) 1 additional year of ENGLISH, MATH, or NATURAL/PHYSICAL SCIENCE 2 years SOCIAL SCIENCE 4 years ANY ADDITIONAL CORE

ACCEPTABLE CORE COURSES Courses that are on a high school’s NCAA List of Approved Core Courses Courses that are college preparatory All high schools should have an approved core-course list All lists are posted on the NCAA Eligibility Center web site Accommodations available for students with a documented learning disability

GPA AND TEST SCORE Only approved core courses are used to determine NCAA GPA Must have a minimum NCAA GPA of at least 2.00 Must have corresponding ACT or SAT score – ACT = English + Math + Reading + Science – SAT = Critical Reading + Math only – Writing score NOT used High GPA = Lower required test score High test score = Lower required GPA

AMATEURISM REQUIREMENTS FOR DIVISION-I ATHLETICS Must be an AMATEUR in order to participate in college athletics Enrollment Period is the first semester that the student plans to enroll full-time at any Division-I or Division-II university NCAA Sports Participation Questionnaire determines if any PROFESSIONAL triggers have occurred before the NCAA Enrollment Period Questionnaire is completed during the NCAA Eligibility Center registration process

AMATEURISM TIMELINE FOR COLLEGE ENROLLMENT In all sports except Tennis, a student-athlete who does not enroll in college as a full-time student in a regular academic term within a one-year time period of his or her high school graduation date or the graduation date of his or her class (whichever is first) shall be subject to the following penalties: 1.Charged 1 season of NCAA athletic competition, and 2.Must serve 1 academic year in residence at the NCAA college prior to competing in his or her sport. ***Tennis only has a six-month time period.***

AMATEURISM RECORDS TO KEEP Information about teams to which the student belongs BESIDES his or her high school team – Team name and location – Team manager’s name and phone number – Dates of participation – Fees and expenses incurred – Prize money earned Keep as much information as possible! Better to have too much than too little!

THINK ABOUT THIS… Keep track of all schools that have been attended; the NCAA will look at every school’s transcript on an individual basis Try to complete all core classes at one high school in a traditional classroom setting For any ONLINE core classes, keep all records about that class (such as course description, course syllabus, names of textbooks used, teacher s, examples of course work submitted, etc.)

AND THIS… The NCAA will NOT accept any core courses completed through certain nontraditional programs; check the NCAA Eligibility Center web site to confirm the status of all schools attended A repeated course must be comparable in Quantity and Quality to the original course before the NCAA will accept it Finally, the student MUST graduate on time from high school with his or her class

WHAT ABOUT COLLEGE ADMISSION? Admission requirements to the college of the student’s choice are NOT THE SAME as NCAA initial-eligibility requirements The student should work with his or her high school counselor to meet all of the following: – High school graduation requirements – NCAA initial-eligibility requirements – College admission requirements

FUTURE ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR DIVISION-I ATHLETICS NCAA initial-eligibility standards are CHANGING for students enrolling in college in Fall 2016 or later (this year’s high school freshmen): – New core-course completion timeline – Higher GPA requirement – Higher test score requirement See the following web site for specifics: ant_New_Rules/New_IE_Rules.pdf

IMPORTANT CONTACT The NCAA Eligibility Center: – – (877) Visit your NCAA Eligibility Center High School Portal for educational materials, legislative updates, and to-do items

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING! ANY QUESTIONS?