Division II Academic Eligibility
To be eligible to compete in NCAA sports during your first year at a Division II school, you must meet academic requirements for your core courses, grade-point average (GPA) and test scores.
You must graduate high school and meet ALL the following requirements:
- Complete 16 core courses:
- Three years of English.
- Two years of math (Algebra 1 or higher).
- Two years of natural or physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it).
- Three additional years of English, math or natural or physical science
- Two years of social science
- Four additional years of English, math, natural or physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy
- Earn at least a 2.2 GPA in your core courses.
- Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score matching your core-course GPA on the Division II sliding scale, which balances your test score and core-course GPA. If you have a low test score, you need a higher core-course GPA to be eligible. If you have a low core-course GPA, you need a higher test score to be eligible.
What if I don’t meet the requirements?
If you enroll full-time at a Division II school, and you have not met all the Division II academic requirements, you may not compete in your first year. However, if you meet the requirements to be a partial qualifier, you may practice and receive an athletics scholarship in your first year at college. To be a partial qualifier, you must graduate high school and meet ALL the following requirements:
- Complete 16 core courses:
- Three years of English.
- Two years of math (Algebra 1 or higher).
- Two years of natural or physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it).
- Three additional years of English, math or natural or physical science
- Two years of social science
- Four additional years of English, math, natural or physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophyEarn at least a 2.0 GPA in your core courses.
- Earn an SAT combined score or ACT sum score matching your core-course GPA on the Division II sliding scale.
If you are concerned you may not meet the Division II academic requirements, consider taking the following actions:
- Ask for advice and accountability from your high school counselor. Check in with the admissions or compliance office at the college you hope to attend.
- Get tutoring or other study help.
- Graduate on time. Division I schools allow college-bound student-athletes who graduate on-time to take one core course during the year after they graduate high school.
- Avoid quick fixes through credit recovery programs. These courses may not be accepted by the NCAA.
- Keep your coursework. If the NCAA Eligibility Center needs to review your record due to irregularities, you may be asked to provide your coursework.
- Follow your high school's policies. The best thing to do is work within the rules.
