You are working on Staging1

NCAA Permanently Eliminates Standardized Test Score Requirement for Division I and II

What began as a temporary waiver has now become permanent: the NCAA will no longer require student-athletes to submit standardized test scores to meet initial-eligibility requirements.

Prior to April 2020, the NCAA Eligibility Center required prospective student-athletes who aspired to compete in Division I or Division II to take either the SAT or the ACT and achieve a minimum grade-point average in order to become certified as an academic qualifier. However, when test sites around the world shut their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA tried to accommodate the myriad disruptions to academic life with a series of temporary measures, including dropping the testing requirement, allowing for virtual learning, and honoring pass-fail grades.

In May 2022, we reported that the NCAA Standardized Test Score Task Force, which had been established in April 2021 to conduct a review of its testing requirements within the initial-eligibility process as part of the NCAA’s eight-point plan to advance racial equity, was recommending the removal of the test score requirement. Those recommendations were passed at the NCAA Convention, which took place last month in San Antonio, Texas.

The other academic requirements will remain in place. College-bound student-athletes planning to compete at an NCAA Division I or II school are still required to have a grade-point average of 2.3 for Division I and 2.2 for Division II in 16 NCAA-approved core-course units and provide proof of high school graduation.

Students may still need to take the SAT for admission to a particular college or university or for an academic scholarship that might complement an athletic grant, so it is up to the student to determine whether or not to take the test.

Some schools have already reinstated the SAT/ACT requirement for admissions. MIT, in particular, announced in March 2022 that it would require standardized tests from all future applicants, stating: “Our research shows standardized tests help us better assess the academic preparedness of all applicants, and also help us identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who lack access to advanced coursework or other enrichment opportunities that would otherwise demonstrate their readiness for MIT. We believe a requirement is more equitable and transparent than a test-optional policy.” Other universities continue to assess the situation. Both Harvard and Princeton have extended their test-optional policies through the 2026 admission cycle. Still others, like the University of California system, have done away with testing permanently.

Division-specific information on initial-eligibility requirements is available here:

Division III schools, which do not offer athletic scholarships, have their own rules governing academic eligibility and amateurism. International student-athletes who plan to attend a Division III institution now have to register with NCAA Eligibility Center for an amateurism certification. Click here for more information on Division III requirements for international student-athletes.

 

44
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

44 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Chub
1 year ago

It’s all about paying the footballers and bballers

Gulliver’s Swimming Travels
1 year ago

I didn’t realize they only needed a 2.3 GPA. That’s…depressing.

Meeeee
Reply to  Gulliver’s Swimming Travels
1 year ago

it was a sliding scale. A lower GPA combined with a higher SAT or ACT and vice versa

Steve Nolan
Reply to  Gulliver’s Swimming Travels
1 year ago

why

Squirrely Dan
1 year ago

Dear NCAA,

Tell me you only care about money without telling me you only care about money.

Thanks

SwimMomof3
1 year ago

Let colleges dictate what their entry requirements are. Use your GPA for admissions. Both my kids received more $$$ from SAT/ACT and GPA scores for academic merit then they got from athletic scholarships, even at a Power 5, D1. No scores, no academic merit. Their choice.

Meeeee
Reply to  SwimMomof3
1 year ago

that used to be the case back in the 70s and before. There was no thought of the athletes/kids. Just come and play, do whatever academically, and see ya. Not good

SwammaJammaDingDong
Reply to  SwimMomof3
1 year ago

This is the system that produced one of the best running backs in the history of the SEC. He graduated from Auburn but could not read and never went to class. https://www.diverseeducation.com/sports/article/15076738/the-james-brooks-illiteracy-scandal

Xman
Reply to  SwimMomof3
1 year ago

If a swimmer has an academic/non athletic scholarship does that count against number of scholarships to the team?

IU Kicker
Reply to  Xman
1 year ago

It doesn’t. Coaches work hard to get kids academic money because it frees up their athletic scholarships.

Cate
1 year ago

So what? It’s the colleges/Universities that determine their admission requirements. That hasn’t changed. You’re not getting into Stanford without good SAT scores as well as a strong high school GPA. You’ll still be admitted to Alabama, Georgia, OU with weak scores if you can throw a football. They allow athletic exceptions. That has always been true.

a b
Reply to  Cate
1 year ago

Correction: Before you could still be admitted to Alabama, Georgia, OU to play football with weak scores unless the scores were so weak that it was clear that you were not ready to meaningfully participate in college classes. Now there are no objective standards related to academics whatsoever.

Now, to Braden’s point below, maybe that’s not all bad. Maybe even students without fundamental skills can pick them up in college with the extensive tutoring athletic departments offer and actually learn something. Realistically, though, I’m skeptical about how often that happens. But it also seems doubtful that kids who couldn’t meet the NCAA testing standards before were often going to JC or getting other academic support that they needed and then… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by a b
Andrew
1 year ago

Professional athletes, part time students

Completely backward

samuli
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

those who pay the bills usually decide things on those who do not pay the bills.

WestCoastRefugee
Reply to  samuli
1 year ago

As of 2020, only 8% of Div. 1 athletic programs actually turn a profit….so, they are not “paying the bills”

Dutton
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

You are 100% correct! It’s a sad state of affairs what college athletics has turned into. One of my swimmers I sent away to a big program recently told me that the coach (that I respected beforehand) told the team “athletics comes first, school second, and anything else you can fit in third”.

Meeeee
Reply to  Dutton
1 year ago

That sounds like Indiana. They told my son that on first recruiting call.

Seth
1 year ago

I know colleges have their individual requirements to apply and be accepted.

Ideally the NCAA has requirements that are high enough to show the student has some chance of graduating and some intelligence.

Steve Nolan
Reply to  Seth
1 year ago

why.

Entgegen
Reply to  Steve Nolan
1 year ago

Why the NCAA should try to have their student-athletes graduate with an education and a degree?

Steve Nolan
Reply to  Entgegen
1 year ago

Sure, answer whatever you want.

If the college wants to admit someone, I don’t understand the issue

Meeeee
Reply to  Steve Nolan
1 year ago

So they don’t end up like Steve Nolan.

Steve Nolan
Reply to  Meeeee
1 year ago

Hey I got a 6900 on my SATs

Former Big10
Reply to  Steve Nolan
1 year ago

I only got 4200 :/

Jackson
1 year ago

Why not get rid of NCAA qualifying requirements too??? Hah. The more the merrier.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

Read More »