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NCAA CORE COURSE CHECK
Every year, athletes with real offers lose them in the registrar’s office. The NCAA does not count every class your high school counts, and by the time a junior finds out, the schedule that could have fixed it is gone. Answer three quick questions below — no transcript needed — and see where your athlete stands against the sixteen core courses, while there is still time to change a schedule.
Tap + once for each year-long class, and +½ for a one-semester class. Count what your athlete is taking right now. Don’t count PE, health, electives, or remedial classes — the NCAA doesn’t.
This gives an estimated core GPA. The real number comes off the transcript — only core classes count, unweighted.
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None of the units counted above matter until your athlete has an account at the NCAA Eligibility Center (what most people still call the Clearinghouse). No account means no official visits, no signed offer, no roster spot — even for a recruited athlete. Register at eligibilitycenter.org by the start of sophomore year: the free Profile Page account is enough to start, and it upgrades to the Certification account (about $100 for U.S. students) when D1 or D2 recruiting gets real. Then have the counselor send the transcript after sophomore year, and send test scores directly from the testing agency — not off the transcript.
Division III has no NCAA core-course requirement — each school sets its own admissions standards, so the regular transcript and application decide. NAIA requires two of three: a 2.3 overall GPA, top half of the graduating class, or a qualifying test score — no core-course list. Junior college (NJCAA) requires only a high school diploma or GED. The sixteen core units above matter for Division I and II — but strong grades keep every one of these doors open.
This tool follows the published NCAA Division I and II academic standards and is a planning aid, not an eligibility ruling. Only the NCAA Eligibility Center certifies eligibility. Confirm every course against your high school’s NCAA-approved course list and register at eligibilitycenter.org.
Four things nobody tells you until it is too late.
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