By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam
What began as a temporary waiver has now become permanent: the NCAA will no longer require student-athletes to submit standardized test scores to meet initial-eligibility requirements.
Prior to April 2020, the NCAA Eligibility Center required prospective student-athletes who aspired to compete in Division I or Division II to take either the SAT or the ACT and achieve a minimum grade-point average in order to become certified as an academic qualifier. However, when test sites around the world shut their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA tried to accommodate the myriad disruptions to academic life with a series of temporary measures, including dropping the testing requirement, allowing for virtual learning, and honoring pass-fail grades.
In May 2022, we reported that the NCAA Standardized Test Score Task Force, which had been established in April 2021 to conduct a review of its testing requirements within the initial-eligibility process as part of the NCAA’s eight-point plan to advance racial equity, was recommending the removal of the test score requirement. Those recommendations were passed at the NCAA Convention, which took place last month in San Antonio, Texas.
The other academic requirements will remain in place. College-bound student-athletes planning to compete at an NCAA Division I or II school are still required to have a grade-point average of 2.3 for Division I and 2.2 for Division II in 16 NCAA-approved core-course units and provide proof of high school graduation.
Students may still need to take the SAT for admission to a particular college or university or for an academic scholarship that might complement an athletic grant, so it is up to the student to determine whether or not to take the test.
Some schools have already reinstated the SAT/ACT requirement for admissions. MIT, in particular, announced in March 2022 that it would require standardized tests from all future applicants, stating: “Our research shows standardized tests help us better assess the academic preparedness of all applicants, and also help us identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who lack access to advanced coursework or other enrichment opportunities that would otherwise demonstrate their readiness for MIT. We believe a requirement is more equitable and transparent than a test-optional policy.” Other universities continue to assess the situation. Both Harvard and Princeton have extended their test-optional policies through the 2026 admission cycle. Still others, like the University of California system, have done away with testing permanently.
Division-specific information on initial-eligibility requirements is available here:
Division III schools, which do not offer athletic scholarships, have their own rules governing academic eligibility and amateurism. International student-athletes who plan to attend a Division III institution now have to register with NCAA Eligibility Center for an amateurism certification. Click here for more information on Division III requirements for international student-athletes.
SwimSwam: NCAA Permanently Eliminates Standardized Test Score Requirement for Division I and II
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