This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Higher academic eligibility requirements for prospective college student-athletes enrolling at Division 1 institutions will come into effect beginning with the Class of 2016.
Grade-point average expectations will increase to 2.300 in core courses (listed below) from 2.000. Additionally, student-athletes must present a corresponding SAT and ACT test score on the NCAA sliding scale, which requires lower scores with an accompanying higher GPA and vice versa. Only core courses are used to calculate grade-point averages.
For student-athletes enrolling on or after Aug. 1 of 2016, 10 of the 16 required core courses must be completed by the seventh semester; 7 of the 10 must be in English, math or natural/physical science. Courses are officially "locked in" at the beginning of the seventh semester, and cannot be repeated for GPA improvement to meet eligibility expectations. Students who fail to meet the core-course requirements may still be eligible to receive athletic aid and practice during the initial year, but cannot compete competitively.
To receive an athletic scholarship and practice, students are required to earn at least a 2.000 GPA.
Division 1 Core-Course Requirements:
• 4 years of English
• 3 years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
• 2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered)
• 1 year of additional English, math or natural/physical science
• 2 years of social science
• 4 years of additional courses (any area above, foreign language or comparative religion/philosophy)
Student-athletes and parents should contact school counselors to ensure NCAA expectations are being met, or to visit the NCAA Eligibility website: http://www.eligibilitycenter.org.
— Trevor Phibbs