YOUR ATHLETE CAN GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL AND STILL BE INELIGIBLE TO PLAY COLLEGE SPORTS

Your Athlete Can Graduate High School and Still Not Be NCAA Eligible

If your child plays sports at John Glenn or Wayne Memorial and dreams of playing in college someday, there's something parents should know before senior year.

Graduating from high school does not automatically mean your student is academically eligible to play NCAA sports.

The NCAA, which stands for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, has its own academic requirements for students who want to compete in college athletics.

And they aren't necessarily the same requirements your student needs to earn a diploma from Wayne-Westland Community Schools.

Two Different Checklists

Wayne-Westland's published graduation requirements call for 22 credits, including:

4 credits of English
4 credits of math
3 credits of science
3 credits of social studies
1 credit of physical education and health
1 credit of visual, performing or applied arts
2 credits of world language
Additional elective credits

Those requirements are designed to get a student to graduation.

The NCAA is looking for something different.

For an athlete planning to compete at a Division I school, the NCAA requires 16 NCAA-approved core-course credits:

4 years of English
3 years of math, Algebra I or higher
2 years of natural or physical science
1 additional year of English, math or science
2 years of social science
4 additional NCAA-approved core courses

The student must also have at least a 2.3 GPA in those NCAA core courses.

Here's Where Parents Can Get Tripped Up

A student can earn credit toward graduation without every one of those classes necessarily counting as an NCAA core course.

Physical education, health, arts and other electives can help a student reach the credits needed for a Wayne-Westland diploma, but that doesn't automatically mean those credits satisfy one of the NCAA's 16 core-course requirements.

Even the GPA is different.

The GPA you see on your student's high school transcript isn't necessarily the GPA the NCAA will use.

The NCAA calculates a core-course GPA using only NCAA-approved courses.

So an athlete could be doing well academically and be completely on track to graduate while still needing to pay attention to their NCAA course requirements.

There's Another Rule Parents Should Know

For Division I, students must complete 10 of their 16 NCAA core courses before the beginning of senior year.

Seven of those 10 must be in English, math or science.

This is known as the 10/7 requirement.

That means senior year is not the ideal time to suddenly start asking whether your athlete has taken the right classes.

What About Division II?

Division II also requires 16 NCAA-approved core courses, but the breakdown is different:

3 years of English
2 years of math
2 years of natural or physical science
3 additional years of English, math or science
2 years of social science
4 additional NCAA-approved core courses

Division II requires at least a 2.2 NCAA core-course GPA.

Division III is different. Those schools generally establish their own academic standards, although students interested in NCAA athletics should still understand the NCAA registration requirements that apply to them.

John Glenn and Wayne Memorial Parents Can Check for Themselves

This may be the most important part of this story.

The NCAA maintains approved course information for individual high schools.

Parents should not simply assume that because a course counts toward graduation, it counts toward NCAA eligibility.

The NCAA recommends that college-bound athletes work with their high school counselor and check their school's current NCAA-approved course list when planning their schedules.

That is especially worth doing before choosing alternative classes, online courses or credit-recovery options.

The Question to Ask Your Counselor

If your child has any interest in playing college sports, tell their counselor:

"My student wants to keep NCAA Division I and Division II eligibility open. Are the classes we're choosing NCAA-approved core courses?"

You don't have to wait until recruiters start calling.

In fact, you shouldn't.

The NCAA encourages prospective college athletes to begin the eligibility process early.

Diploma vs. Uniform

Here's probably the easiest way to remember all of this.

Wayne-Westland graduation requirements determine whether your student earns a high school diploma.

NCAA eligibility requirements help determine whether your student can practice, compete and receive athletic aid at an NCAA college.

Those are two different checklists.

Your student can complete one without automatically completing the other.

For parents of athletes at John Glenn and Wayne Memorial, that's something worth knowing before the next class schedule is filled out.

Helpful Links for Parents

Check John Glenn or Wayne Memorial's NCAA-approved courses:
https://web3.ncaa.org/hsportal/exec/hsAction

Search for your student's high school and review the current approved core-course list.

NCAA Eligibility Center:
https://www.ncaa.org/eligibility-center/

This is where families can learn about eligibility, registration and the steps college-bound student-athletes need to complete.

NCAA Division I Requirements:
https://www.ncaa.org/eligibility-center/initial-eligibility-requirements/division-i/

NCAA Division II Requirements:
https://www.ncaa.org/eligibility-center/initial-eligibility-requirements/division-ii/

And one last piece of advice for athletic families:

Don't wait until senior year.

If playing college sports is even a possibility, start asking these questions now.