National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

back to 2010 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index

May 25, 2010 8:31:56 AM

The NCAA has begun identifying nontraditional courses from various secondary education programs that do not meet the parameters of recently adopted Division I legislation regulating such courses.

Nontraditional courses include online, virtual, independent study, correspondence, individualized instruction and courses taught through similar means, which would also include software-based credit recovery courses.

Courses identified thus far as insufficient include those from BYU Independent Study and American School (two of the programs most frequently submitted to the NCAA Eligibility Center). Courses that meet (as well as those that do not meet) core-course requirements for eligibility purposes are updated on the NCAA Eligibility Center Web site.

Division I adopted legislation earlier this spring (Proposal No. 2009-64) requiring nontraditional courses considered as core to include regular access and interaction between an instructor and student for purposes of teaching, evaluating and providing assistance to the student throughout the duration of the course.

The legislation became necessary as nontraditional courses became more prevalent, which made determining initial eligibility for prospective student-athletes more difficult. In particular, the variance of interaction and instruction between teacher and student in many online courses raised concern about whether these courses are academically sound and meet the NCAA definition of a core course. Additionally, the sometimes abbreviated timeframe for completion of such courses was of concern.

Proposal No. 2009-64 originated from the Division I Academic Cabinet after consultation with the NCAA Student Records Review Committee and NCAA High School Review Committee. The legislation helps ensure that acceptable nontraditional courses allow students to demonstrate that their work was completed in a manner consistent with the intent and design of the core-course curriculum requirements.

"To have a course approved as ‘core,' the high school or secondary school program needs to demonstrate that there was ongoing access and regular interaction between the student and the instructor for the entire course," said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs. "Students cannot self-pace or teach themselves a core course."

The interaction between teacher and student may include telephone conversations, electronic mail, instant messaging and other forms of electronic communication between the student and instructor. That interaction should include feedback on assignments and course assessments by the instructor to the student, and the opportunity for the instructor to provide individual instruction to the student.

Even if the student does not request that interaction, the course will not be approved as meeting the standards of Proposal No. 2009-64 unless the course is designed to require it.

The legislation also reduces the opportunities for prospects to complete courses in a condensed timeframe. While Proposal No. 2009-64 does not prescribe a timeframe in which a nontraditional course must be completed, the entity offering the course must establish a defined period for completion of the course.

Because the effective date of the new legislation is August 1, 2010, students who complete a course identified as insufficient before then may still have that course evaluated on a case-by-case basis. However, such courses completed on or after August 1 may not be used for Division I initial-eligibility certification.

As of now, these decisions do not apply to students seeking to use these courses for eligibility to compete at Division II institutions. The Division II Presidents Council at its April meeting tabled a proposal that is identical to the Division I legislation and will review the measure again in June.

Division I requires prospective student-athletes to complete 16 core courses in high school to be initially certified. Currently, Division II requires 14 core courses but will require 16 starting in 2013. 

For questions and answers about this decision, click here.