NAIA Eligibility

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is a community of more than 250 colleges and universities, 65,000 student-athletes, and an environment that focuses on athletic participation as one part of the total education process.

Do I meet the freshman eligibility requirements? If you will graduate from a U.S. high school this spring and enroll in college this coming fall, the requirements are simple.

An entering freshman must: Be a graduate of an accredited high school. Must graduate with a 2.3+ GPA or meet two of the three following requirements.

1. TEST SCORE REQUIREMENT: Achieve a minimum of 18 on the ACT or 970 on the SAT. Tests must be taken on an international testing date prior to the start of the term in which you intend to participate in athletics and scores must be achieved on a single test date. The minimum SAT must be achieved on the Evidence-Based Reading & Writing and Math sections only; the Writing score cannot be used. Minimum score requirements for tests taken prior to May 1, 2019 varied. • For tests taken prior to March 1, 2016: 18 ACT, 860 SAT (reading, math) • For tests taken between March 1, 2016 and May 1, 2019: 16 ACT, 860 SAT (evidence-based reading & writing, math)

2. HIGH SCHOOL GPA REQUIREMENT: Achieve a minimum overall high school grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.  The NAIA accepts the grade point average determined by the high school, provided it is recorded and awarded in the same manner as for every other student at the school.

3. CLASS RANK REQUIREMENT: Graduate in the top half of your high school class If a student’s class rank does not appear on the transcript, a signed letter from the principal or headmaster, vice principal or guidance counselor written on the school’s letterhead and with the school’s official seal, stating the student’s final class rank position or percent may be submitted. Exception: Completion of nine institutional credit hours prior to identification at any institution of higher education can be used if no class rank appears on the final official high school transcript. The credit hours must be completed with a grade of “C” or better.