Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on high school academic processes, the NCAA has made some adjustments to the initial eligibility certification process. The NCAA implemented the COVID-19 eligibility waiver so that prospective college baseball players aren’t punished from circumstances outside of their control. The adjustments will only apply to 2020 graduates that will be full-time students at an NCAA institution in the 2020/2021 school year.
The main adjustment to the initial-eligibility standard is that SAT and ACT scores will not be a part of the criteria that establishes eligibility. While high school students’ academics have continued remotely during this time, opportunities for standardized testing have largely ceased. If a Senior didn’t take the SAT or ACT prior to March, or didn’t have an opportunity to retake the test, these students would potentially suffer from an eligibility standpoint. As a result, the NCAA introduced the COVID-19 automatic waiver, which essentially removes the evaluation of standardized testing scores from the eligibility certification process. The NCAA baseball COVID-19 eligibility waiver establishes a new set of eligibility guidelines, which we’ve provided below. If you’re interesting in learning more about eligibility, we recently posted an article which thoroughly covers the normal NCAA eligibility rules and guidelines.
Division I College Baseball Academic Eligibility
For a student-athlete to be eligible to compete their first year at an NCAA DI institution, they must have graduated high school and have met all of the following requirements:
Full Qualifier
A full qualifier is a student-athlete that has met all of the academic eligibility components and, therefore, has full eligibility to play their first year in college.
- Complete 16 core courses in the areas shown above.
- 10 of the 16 core courses must be completed prior to the student’s senior year of high school.
- 7 of the 10 core courses must be in English, math or natural/physical science.
- Earn a core-course GPA of at least 2.3
Academic Redshirt Eligibility
If you haven’t met all of the requirements to be a full qualifier, you will not be able to compete (in games) your first year at the Division I level. If this is the case, you should take a look at the following requirements to see if you are eligible to get an academic redshirt. If you meet the requirements you would still be able to practice with the team and maintain your athletic scholarship.
To be eligible for an academic redshirt, you must graduate high school and meet ALL of the following academic requirements:
- Complete 16 core courses in the areas shown above.
- Earn a core-course GPA of at least 2.0
Non qualifier
Players that don’t meet the academic requirements to be a full qualifier or academic redshirt eligible are considered to be a non qualifier. As a non qualifier, a player is not allowed to compete, practice, or receive an athletic scholarship during their first year of full-time enrollment. Additionally, the player would only have three years of eligibility, with the potential of earning back the fourth year of eligibility if 80 percent of the undergraduate degree is completed prior to the start of the fifth year at the university.
Division II College Baseball Academic Eligibility
To be eligible to compete at the Division II level during your first year, a player must have graduated high school and have met ALL of the following requirements:
Full Qualifier
- Complete 16 core courses in the areas shown above.
- Earn a core-course GPA of at least 2.2
Partial Qualifier
A partial qualifier is unique to the Division II level but is comparable to the academic redshirt eligibility for Division I athletes. As a partial qualifier, a player can still practice on campus and receive their athletic financial aid. The player would not be able to compete in games their first year. A student-athlete who has not fulfilled the academic requirements to be considered a full qualifier, can be recognized as a partial qualifier if they graduated from high school and have met all of the requirements below:
- Complete 16 core courses in the areas shown above.
- Earn a core-course GPA of at least 2.0
Nonqualifier
A non qualifier at the Divison II level has a similar meaning as that of Division I. The player has not met the requirements to be a full or partial qualifier and will therefore have to sit out their first year. At the Division II level, this won’t use a year of the student-athletes eligibility.