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It doesn’t matter how good an athlete is at their sport. A golfer can win the US Amateur, a Soccer player can be in the Real Madrid Academy and a Swimmer may have been to the Olympics, if you don’t meet the requirements then a student-athlete will never be offered a scholarship.

The minimum starting point academically for a student-athlete is the guidelines set out by the NCAA. If an athlete doesn’t meet these requirements then the NCAA will not deem the student-athlete eligible. Unfortunately, this means that they will never get a college coach to formally offer them a scholarship.

Athletes need to complete 16 Core Courses during High School. High School for US athletes is easily defined. For International athletes we are looking at the final four years of high school until graduation is deemed to have occurred. The easiest way to describe a "Core Course” is to think of it as 1 year. You will see below that to be eligible for NCAA Division I you need to prove that you have taken 16 core courses in total.

Division I-16 core courses

  • 4 years of English.
  • 3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher).
  • 2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered by high school).
  • 1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science.
  • 2 years of social science.
  • 4 years of additional courses (from any area above, foreign language or comparative religion/philosophy).

Division II-16 core courses

  • 3 years of English.
  • 2 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher).
  • 2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered by high school).
  • 3 years of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science.
  • 2 years of social science.
  • 4 years of additional courses (from any area above, foreign language or comparative religion/philosophy).

Notes

NAIA and NJCAA criteria are slightly different.

US Universities also require either an SAT or ACT exam to be taken for entry purposes. The two tests are explained below.

SAT

The SAT is a standardised test for most college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board.

The new SAT consists of two main sections, these are Reading and Maths. Each section is scored between 200-800, with the maximum score being 1600. There is an optional writing paper which will likely be required at some of the more academic universities in the US.

ACT

The ACT is a national college admissions examination that consists of subject area tests in English, Reading, Maths and Science. ACT results are accepted by all four-year colleges and universities in the U.S.

The ACT includes 215 multiple-choice questions and takes approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete, including a short break (or just over four hours if you are taking the ACT Plus Writing). Actual testing time is 2 hours and 55 minutes (plus 30 minutes if you are taking the ACT Plus Writing).

The NCCA has a sliding scale which compares GPA and required SAT/ACT scores in order to be academically eligible. For prospective international student athletes, their high school grades will be converted into a US equivalent grade in order to receive a GPA.

NJCAA

The National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA) has different academic requirements. For internationals the best to describe NJCAA is to think of it a stepping stone to a 4 year college, a Foundation degree or a building block. NJCAA only last for two years after which point athletes transfer and complete a further 2 years (Year 3 and 4) in a four year college institution such as the NCAA or NAIA.

There is not SAT/ACT requirement for NJCAA and the GPA can afford to be a grade lower on average. There are also no checks other than those completed by admissions department at the individual colleges.