NCAA Continuing Eligibility Information

To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete shall maintain progress toward a baccalaureate or equivalent degree at that institution.

Progress Toward Degree Consists of:

To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete must earn 9-semester hours of academic credit the preceding regular academic term in which the student-athlete has been enrolled full time at any collegiate institution.

To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete must complete 18-semester hours since the beginning of the previous fall term or since the beginning of the certifying institution’s preceding regular two semesters. Credit hours earned in the period after the regular academic year at the institution (e.g., hours earned in summer school) shall not be used to satisfy the academic credit-hour requirements of this regulation.

To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete must earn 24-semester hours of academic credit during any year in which the student-athlete is enrolled full time in at least one academic term (no more than 6 hours may be during the summer).  A student-athlete may satisfy this requirement based on the student-athlete earning:

• • 24-semester hours since the beginning of the previous fall term;
  • 24-semester hours since the beginning of the certifying institution’s preceding regular two semesters or three quarters; or
  • 48-semester hours during the first two years of collegiate enrollment (the certifying institution’s first four semesters following the student-athlete’s initial full-time enrollment in a collegiate institution).

Application to a Midyear Enrollee.  A student-athlete entering the institution at the beginning of the second semester or the second of an academic year (e.g., midyear transfer) shall be subject to the credit hours required for the fall term immediately following the student-athlete’s initial full-time enrollment at the certifying institution; however, the annual credit hours may be adjusted to require completion of 12 units per term of actual attendance during the initial regular academic year of attendance.

To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete must achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.00 prior to the beginning of each fall term. The eligibility of a student-athlete who does not satisfy the grade-point average requirement prior to the fall term may be recertified prior to the next regular academic term.

Additional Progress Toward Degree Provisions

The student-athlete shall:

• Be enrolled in at least a minimum full-time program of studies leading to a baccalaureate or equivalent degree as defined by the institution, which shall not be less than 12-semester hours, regardless of the institution’s definition of a minimum full-time program of studies.
  • A student-athlete with athletics eligibility remaining may compete or practice while enrolled in less than a minimum full-time program of studies, provided the student-athlete is enrolled in the final semester of the baccalaureate program and the institution certifies that the student-athlete is carrying (for credit) the courses necessary to complete the degree-requirements. Thereafter, the student-athlete shall forfeit eligibility in all sports, unless the student-athlete completes all degree requirements during that semester and is eligible to receive the baccalaureate diploma on the institution’s next degree-granting date.
  • A student-athlete may practice or compete while enrolled in a full-time graduate program as defined by the institution for all graduate students in that program.
• During the first two years of enrollment, the calculation of credit hours (9, 18 and 24) to meet the requirements shall be based on hours earned or accepted for degree credit toward any of the institution’s degree programs. Beginning with the student-athlete’s fifth semester of collegiate enrollment, credits used to meet the hour requirements (9, 18 and 24) must be degree credit toward the student-athlete’s designated degree program.
• Designate a program of studies leading toward a specific baccalaureate degree at the certifying institution by the beginning of the third year of enrollment (fifth semester) and thereafter shall make progress toward that specific degree. This provision shall be applicable to the eligibility not only of a continuing student, but also of a transfer student from a four-year or two-year collegiate institution who is entering his or her third year of collegiate enrollment even if the student has not yet completed an academic year in residence or used a season of eligibility in a sport at the certifying institution.
• A student-athlete who has designated a specific degree program may use credits earned in a minor to fulfill the credit-hour requirements for meeting progress toward degree if the minor is a required element for all students to obtain the original baccalaureate degree. A student-athlete who has designated a voluntary or optional minor (a minor that is not a required element of the original baccalaureate degree program for all students) may use a maximum of 6 credit hours per term earned in the minor to fulfill the credit-hour requirements for meeting progress toward degree.
• A student-athlete who is in the final academic year (final two semesters) of his or her designated degree program may use credit hours acceptable toward any of the institution’s degree programs to satisfy the nine-semester hour requirement, provided the institution certifies, through review by appropriate academic officials, that the student-athlete is carrying (for credit) the courses necessary to complete degree requirements at the end of two semesters or three quarters. Thereafter, the student-athlete shall forfeit eligibility in all sports, unless the student athlete completes all degree requirements during the final two semesters or three quarters and is eligible to receive the baccalaureate diploma on the institution’s next degree-granting date.
• For student-athletes beginning their 3^rd year of collegiate (5^th semester) must complete the Declaration of Degree Program and Advising Forms from the Athletic Compliance Office.  Classes taken must be approved and signed by the advisor on the Advising Form in order to count for satisfactory progress.
• Be able to change a designated degree program and comply with satisfactory progress requirements if (1) the change in programs is documented appropriately by the Academic Records’s Office and Athletic Compliance Office, (2) the credits earned prior to the change are acceptable toward the degree previously sought and (3) the credits earned from the time of the change are acceptable toward the new desired degree.

 Remedial, tutorial or noncredit courses may be used by the student to satisfy the minimum academic progress requirement only if they meet all of the following conditions:

• The courses must be considered by the institution to be prerequisites for specific courses acceptable for any degree program;
• The courses must be given the same weight as others in the institution in determining the student’s status for full-time enrollment;
• Noncredit courses may not exceed the maximum institutional limit for such courses in any baccalaureate degree program (or the student’s specific baccalaureate degree program once a program has been designated).  For example, a varsity sport class (football) can only be counted twice for satisfactory progress; and
• The credit in such courses shall not exceed 12 semester hours, and the courses must be taken during the student’s first academic year of collegiate enrollment.

 Repeated Courses. Credit for courses that are repeated may be used by a student-athlete to satisfy the progress-toward-degree requirements only under the following conditions:

• A course repeated due to an unsatisfactory initial grade may be used only once and only after it has been satisfactorily completed;
• Credit for a course that may be taken several times (e.g., a physical education activities course) shall be limited by institutional regulations; and
• Credits earned in courses that may be taken several times may not exceed the maximum institutional limit for credits of that type for any baccalaureate degree program (or for the student-athlete’s specific baccalaureate degree program once a program has been designated).
• A repeat of a previously passed course will not count toward the hours required for progress toward degree requirements
• A repeat of a previously passed course will count toward the cumulative GPA requirement.