National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

November 24, 1997

Clearinghouse committee recommends increases in fee

Panel seeks to bring Association costs closer to original estimateThe NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse Committee, after soliciting reactions from representatives of high-school organizations, is recommending a fee increase for prospective student-athletes who register with the clearinghouse for certification.

The committee made the recommendation during its October 30 meeting in Kansas City, Missouri.

Noting that clearinghouse costs have increased from an original estimate of $500,000 annually to approximately $1.5 million in 1997, the committee recommended incremental increases in the registration fee of $2 per year over a five-year period.

The committee believes that a $10 fee increase will bring NCAA costs much closer to the original projected annual cost, but agreed that such an increase is too much to implement at one time.

Therefore, it recommended that the current $18 fee be increased to $20 for the high-school graduating class of 1999, $22 for the class of 2000 and so on until the fee increases to $28 for the class of 2003.

A fee-waiver provision would remain in effect for prospective student-athletes who can demonstrate a need for financial assistance.

Last year, such fee waivers were granted to 8,000 of the clearinghouse's 150,000 registrants.

Representatives of high-school organizations who attended the Kansas City meeting told the committee that a fee increase is not unreasonable, but they urged tying that increase to an improved level of service.

The committee noted that efforts to improve clearinghouse services -- which have intensified over the past two years -- would continue as the fee increase is implemented.

Besides recommending the fee increase, the committee recom-

mended to the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet that the Association extend American College Testing's (ACT) contract to operate the clearing-

house for three years beyond its currently scheduled expiration in October 1998.

The extension would permit the Association and ACT to determine

how possible changes in the clearinghouse's responsibilities and in the NCAA initial-eligibility certification process would affect costs of operating the clearinghouse.

Other highlights

Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse Committee
October 30/Kansas City, Missouri

  • Reviewed the new core-course review procedure that was implemented earlier this year and made several recommendations to the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet and Division II Academic Requirements Committee.

    The Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse Committee noted the clearinghouse's assigned responsibility in the procedure to review courses that appear unacceptable as core courses because a title (for example, "keyboarding" or "production of newspapers") suggests instructional content that may not be included in the 75-percent-required course content. It recommended that a high school be required to submit a syllabus for any such courses with its Form 48-H renewal. The committee further recommended that this procedure be fully explained in instructions to high schools regarding the core-course renewal process.

    The committee also determined that review of a course should occur automatically if a high school seeks to add to its Form 48-H a course that also is being presented specifically for prospective student-athletes' certification.

  • Reviewed a list of expectations for clearinghouse operations that the committee began compiling during its August meeting and agreed on plans for finalizing the list by February 1998.

    As part of those expectations, the committee determined that the clearinghouse should issue a final certification decision within five to 15 working days after all documents required for certification of a prospect have been received by the clearinghouse.