NAVIGATING THE WATERS TO PLAY SPORTS IN COLLEGE
Eligibility Requirements & Scholarships
While most students are simply trying to survive high school, student-athletes have a lot more to focus on in addition to achieving success in their chosen high school sport. When I was in high school, I was a highly successful, three sport athlete who won Nevada Player of the Year. I didn’t have to think much about college until my senior year because I was fortunate that schools were knocking on my door. Not every athlete is so lucky and there have been a lot of rule changes since my day. Today, high school athletes realistically need to start preparing for college during their freshman year. So how does a young athlete navigate the confusing waters and where do they start?
First, a student-athlete needs to understand the different types of national and regional Associations that govern sports in colleges and universities. Teams are typically funded by a college’s athletic department, and player eligibility for athletic scholarships is dependent on the Association that governs that college.
Colleges join together in conferences to compete under these different Associations. The most commonly known Associations include:
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
Other, less known Associations include:
United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA)
National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)
Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA)
California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA)
Northwest Athletic Association (NWAC)
Various other Independent Conferences
Each Association has its own set of eligibility requirements and scholarships programs.
Next, the student-athlete needs to identify the top 10+ colleges he/she wants to attend. After putting together this list, there are several questions the student-athlete needs to consider for each college:
What Association is the college part of? What are the eligibility requirements for this Association?
What are the college’s own eligibility requirements?
What are my athletic skills as a player? Am I good enough to play at this college?
What is my GPA? Are/will my grades be good enough to go to this college?
What is my overall academic success? Am I a good student or an average one? Do I get in trouble at school?
What are my goals? Do I want to play in college? Do I want to play professionally?
What do I want to study and major in when I go to this college knowing [insert sport] is not a major? Does this college offer my major of choice?
Am I trying to obtain an academic scholarship or sports scholarship? If yes, which one is more important to me? Does this college offer scholarships? Which one do I have a better chance at getting?
It may seem obvious a student with a 1.5 GPA who has been suspended or expelled for disciplinary action is likely not eligible to attend or play at a NCAA Division I school such as Stanford. However, some schools are quite a bit less stringent in their academic requirements and may ignore the athlete's low GPA if the athlete excels on the field and can at least get a GED.
For example, a NJCAA college is a two-year college and does not require a student to have graduated from high school to participate in its athletics. Student-athletes in the NJCAA must be high school graduates or equivalent but where they received their credentials does not play a factor in their ability to participate in any of the NJCAA’s sports. NJCAA colleges also have other valuable considerations. For some athletes, a two-year college is much more advantageous if they are potentially eligible to play professionally. NJCAAs often have more scholarship funds available as well. In addition, if an athlete does well at the NJCAA level, they have a good chance at transferring into a NCAA or NAIA college they were previously not eligible for.
The NAIA is a four-year program. NAIA schools work under independent athletic and academic scholarship programs with no restrictions. Scholarship availability varies with each NAIA school. Even though the GPA eligibility for NAIA is 2.0, most NAIA schools have very high, stringent academic requirements. In addition, most of these schools are often faith-based schools and are provided a lot of private funding. Because of this private funding, NAIA schools often have a lot of additional scholarship opportunities available.
NCAA is also a four-year program. NCAA Division I and II sports have the toughest academic requirements out of all of the Associations. That means a player needs to be both a good athlete and a good student. NCAA has specific core requirements and an athlete must graduate with a 2.3 GPA in the core courses. An athlete who does not meet these requirements could possibly still get into the school and be able to practice, but they will be “red shirted” and stuck sitting on the bench for their first year.
In short, different student-athletes will qualify for different schools based on grades and ability on the field. An athlete should not limit their focus to only NCAA schools because other Associations may be a better overall fit for the athlete. In addition, other Associations have their own advantages and often have more scholarship funds available.
A final though: An athlete that can get all or part of their college schooling paid for while playing the sport they love always wins the game. Good luck!
RESOURCES
NAIA Eligibility Guide – pdf
