National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 10, 1997

Academic committee focuses on initial-eligibility matters

The NCAA Academic Requirements Committee discussed several issues involving initial-eligibility requirements during its February 23-25 meeting in Kansas City, Missouri.

Among those issues is the fourth-year-of-English requirement in Division I and a recommendation from the Special Committee to Oversee Implementation of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse that the Academic Requirements Committee consider a blanket waiver for all students who meet initial-eligibility requirements but are deficient in English.

The Academic Requirements Committee agreed that it prefers more specific solicitation of English courses from high schools through the NCAA core-course review process, which the committee believes will help alleviate much of the problem.

In addition, the committee agreed on criteria for identifying clearly acceptable waiver candidates. It agreed the candidates should be deficient in English by one unit or less, and have at least a 3.300 grade-point average in their core courses and a score in the 70th percentile in the English portion of the SAT or ACT (which translates to an English subscore of approximately 540 in the SAT and 23 in the ACT).

The NCAA Council Subcommittee on Initial-Eligibility Waivers also will review possible criteria for clearly acceptable waiver candidates, and these recommendations will be forwarded to the NCAA Council for its April meeting. The Academic Requirements Committee believes that, ultimately, the fourth-year-of-English requirement issue should be reviewed by the new Division I governance structure.

The committee also discussed issues related to grade scale and credits awarded, as they pertain not only to students attending a single high school but also to students attending multiple schools. The committee reaffirmed the practice of using only semester and/or yearly grades, but granted the clearinghouse limited flexibility in certain cases to use grades and credits that are most beneficial to the student.

Other highlights

Academic Requirements Committee
February 23-25/Kansas City, Missouri

Reviewed a report on the new NCAA core-course review process, which is designed to help student-athletes meet academic requirements. The committee discussed how best to involve the secondary school representatives of the various national councils in this initiative.

Reviewed issues related to students with learning disabilities and supported the addition of specific learning-disabled guidelines to help students and institutions submit the appropriate materials. The committee also discussed issues regarding attention-deficit disorder and the criteria under which those cases may be approved.

Discussed issues related to concurrent high-school and collegiate enrollment and acknowledged that an increasing number of students are enrolled in concurrent programs.

Discussed issues related to two-year college degree programs offered by four-year, degree-granting institutions, and agreed to discuss those issues further during the committee's June meeting. The committee acknowledged the need for additional data from the membership on the number of four-year, degree-granting institutions that offer a two-year college degree program.