• What are the different levels of college athletics?

    There are several levels of college athletics. The main difference is the amount of scholarship and/or recruiting money that is available to the school, which is often based on the size of the school:

    • Junior colleges are 2-year colleges that you can transfer to a 4 year school upon completing your Associates Degree. Example: Mesa Community College
    • Division III are small private 4-year colleges that do not offer athletic scholarships but do offer many academic and financial need scholarships. Example: University of Redlands (CA), Wartburg College (IA), etc.
    • NAIA colleges are usually very small but often offer partial athletic scholarships in addition to financial aid and academic scholarships. Examples: Embry Riddle University (Prescott), Southern Oregon University, Fort Lewis College (CO), etc. 
    • Division II colleges are 4 year colleges that are usually mid-sized colleges (2,500-8,000 students). They offer athletic, academic, and financial need scholarships. Examples: Colorado Western (CO) or Humbolt State University (CA).
    • Division I colleges are large 4-year universities that often have big recruiting budgets and offer the highest number of athletic scholarships. They also offer academic and financial need scholarships and grants. For Division I football there are 2 separate divisions: the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The difference between the 2 relate to scholarship numbers. FBS can give partial scholarships and have fewer scholarships than the FCS (only full scholarships). FCS examples are: University of Arizona, Arizona State, Ohio State, etc. FBS examples are: Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, North Dakota State, etc. 

     Academic Requirements

     Because these college levels are so different from each other, they each have unique academic requirements for eligibility.

    Junior Colleges require a high school diploma or GED.
     
    Division III is based on each individual college’s requirements.
     
    NAIA require a 2.0 cumulative GPA, combined with either being in the top 50% of your class or an 860 SAT or 18 ACT.  Students must register with www.playnaia.org to play sports at this level.
     
    Division I or Division II athletics student-athletes must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center by the beginning of their senior year. This is done online at www.eligibilitycenter.org. ACT or SAT scores must be sent directly to the NCAA Eligibility Center using the college code 9999.

    Division II Requirements:

    Currently, Division II requires 16 core classes with a minimum GPA of a 2.0 and an 820 SAT or 17 ACT. These Core Courses must include a minimum of: 3 English, 2 Math, 2 Science, 2 Social Studies, as well as 3 additional Math, Science, or English classes and an additional 4 courses from any of the core categories which may include world languages.
     
    As of August 1, 2018, in order to be a Full Qualifier (receives athletic aid and practice and compete) a student must achieve a Core GPA of 2.2 and a matching score on the Division II sliding scale. Example: Core 2.2 requires an 840 SAT or 70 ACT but a Core of 3.0 only requires a 520 SAT or 46 ACT.
     
    As of August 1, 2018, a student-athlete can be a Partial Qualifier (receives athletic aid and can practice but CANNOT compete) if they earn a Core GPA of 2.0 and a matching score on the Division II sliding scale. Example: Core 2.0 requires an 820 SAT or 68 ACT but a Core 3.0 only requires a 420 SAT or 38 ACT. 

    Division I Requirements:

    D I colleges require 16 core classes and students must qualify on a sliding scale with their core GPA and SAT or ACT scores. The core classes must include: 4 English, 3 Math, 2 Science, and 2 Social Studies, as well as an additional year of Math, English, or Science and another 4 years of any additional core classes which may include World Languages. There are 2 categories for eligibility:

    •  Qualifier (receives athletic aid and can practice and compete immediately) the student-athlete must have a minimum 2.3 Core GPA and a 900 SAT or a 75 ACT. Ten of the 16 Core Credits are locked prior to the start of 12th grade. 
    • Academic Redshirt (receives athletic aid and can practice but CANNOT COMPETE) the student athlete must have a 2.0 Core GPA and a corresponding ACT/SAT on the sliding scale. No classes/grades have to be locked in prior to the start of 12th grade to meet this requirement.

    Recruiting

    FACTS

    • Each athlete is allowed to take 5 official (paid visits) to Division I or Division II colleges.
    • Unless students receive a direct call from a college coach or a letter that talks about giving an official visit the college is probably not heavily recruiting the student.

    Example: University of Michigan football sends out 8,000 letters each year and the maximum number of scholarships they can award to incoming students is 25.

    • Most colleges don’t give full-rides and have very small recruiting budgets.

     Tips for Student-Athletes

    •  Be realistic about your abilities and keep your options open. There may be many schools that would like to have you but it may be a smaller school and may be a long way from home.
    • Make sure the school offers the academic programs and environment you are looking for.
    • It is very important that you get good references from coaches and school staff. This also means keeping Facebook and Instagram pages respectable.
    • If you want to play somewhere you probably can but you need to be actively pursuing opportunities. This means filling out student-athlete questionnaires via mail or the internet.
    • The more schools a student contacts the better their chances are of getting an opportunity to play.
    • Do not rule out small schools. Even though the school may not have many or any athletic scholarships, they often provide financial aid, merit scholarships, and some athletic scholarships to help students pay for school.

      

    Additional Resources

     Athletic Links                      Recruiting Links                        Financial Aid/Scholarships

    www.eligibilitycenter.org       www.ncsasports.org                  www.fafsa.ed.gov      

    www.playnaia.org                 www.collegedirectories.com       www.fastweb.com

    www.njcaa.org                      www.recruitingrealities.com       www.finaid.org