Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Even for the experts, navigating NCAA academic eligibility can be challenging. Honest Game is here to help eliminate eligibility concerns.
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Honest Game’s educational software ensures schools can proactively plan students’ academic eligibility for college sports. Our automated system aligns school departments, students, and families by tracking learning outcomes across all student activities.
We are committed to bringing equal access to college sports - and beyond - for all. We are former college athletes who believe in the power of sport and the opportunity of a college education. We have seen what high school student-athletes can achieve when given the motivation and a clear path to academic success. We aim to bring that vision to every high school student.
We are committed to bringing equal access to college sports - and beyond - for all. We are former college athletes who believe in the power of sport and the opportunity of a college education. We have seen what high school student-athletes can achieve when given the motivation and a clear path to academic success. We aim to bring that vision to every high school student.
Honest Game builds academic roadmaps for high school student-athletes who want to play sports in college. Our support is to the entire school village, connecting communication between school departments, students, and parents, while also streamlining administrative tasks for staff. Our College Athletic Report on Eligibility (CARE)® provides individualized guidance to students based on their high school transcript on how they can maintain and/or gain qualifier eligibility for NCAA and NAIA sports.
Three steps to get your CARE®:
1. Set up a profile through your high school, club team or on your own!
2. If your account is set up through your club or on your own, email your counselor for a pdf of your unofficial transcript and screen shot your PSAT/SAT/ACT score from the College Board or ACT website.
3. Upload your info to your Honest Game dashboard and wait for your CARE®! If your profile is through your high school, just sit back and wait for your high school to provide your transcript to Honest Game!
1. Set up a profile through your high school, club team or on your own!
2. If your account is set up through your club or on your own, email your counselor for a pdf of your unofficial transcript and screen shot your PSAT/SAT/ACT score from the College Board or ACT website.
3. Upload your info to your Honest Game dashboard and wait for your CARE®! If your profile is through your high school, just sit back and wait for your high school to provide your transcript to Honest Game!
Freshman year is the best time to join the Honest Game team, so you can track your progress and identify eligibility issues early. The sooner you understand your status, the more time you have to take courses and get eligible. However, we can help any high school aged student-athlete with academic eligibility planning!
We help high school counselors, athletic directors, coaches, clubs teams, senior administrators, parents / guardians, and individual high school student-athletes!
The Honest Game CARE® is a College Athletic Report on Eligibility. CARE® provides a step-by-step academic roadmap to college access, including strategic guidance and short-term goals that align every student-athlete’s passion for sport with their motivation for academic success.
Honest Game is an access tool designed to support all student-athletes, not merely the student-athletes who hope to play in college. Honest Game’s short-term strategic guidance drives participation in sports and Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s), generating a multitude of college access opportunities for all high school student-athletes (i.e., academic scholarships, recruited walk-on offers, admission to highly academic colleges).
The NCAA Eligibility Center is a clearinghouse. All student-athletes must be academically cleared by the NCAA to be able to play at an NCAA-sanctioned college/university. Honest Game is not a clearinghouse; it is a guide to ensure all student-athletes have a step-by-step roadmap to navigate the complex academic eligibility requirements to be cleared to play college sports.
Honest Game is committed to keeping your student data private and secure. At Honest Game, our mission is to provide every student-athlete with a fair and equitable opportunity to access college. At the center of this mission is protecting the privacy and security of our customers’ data. We understand that customers in the education sector are subject to specific compliance obligations, including those under the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). Honest Game's privacy practices, technical controls, and security measures are designed to protect the data customers submit to Honest Game. If you would like to learn more about Honest Game's plans and features and/or discuss more about how Honest Game supports your FERPA and COPPA compliance obligations, please contact us.
Honest Game provides an affordable access solution, with many districts leveraging Title Funds (Title I, II, IV) and other creative strategies to fund it. Because our pricing is personalized to each school's unique requirements, we don’t offer standard quotes. Please schedule a convenient time here to customize Honest Game support to your specific needs.
For the NCAA, academic eligibility is typically determined using a combination of a student-athlete’s high school coursework and GPA. Honest Game breaks down NCAA academic eligibility for student-athletes in our
Academic Eligibility 101 Guide.
Check your Honest Game report to see if you’re on track! There are special rules due to COVID-19. If you do not meet the minimum academic requirements set out by the NCAA, NAIA, you cannot take an athletic scholarship, compete or practice. Honest Game breaks down NCAA academic eligibility for student-athletes in our
Academic Eligibility 101 Guide.
The minimum NCAA Core GPA for an NCAA DI qualifier is 2.3. Your core GPA is based on only the NCAA-approved courses that you take. The minimum Core GPA for an NCAA DII qualifier is 2.2. Check your Honest Game report to see if you’re on track!
Your high school has a list of NCAA core courses online. If the course names on your transcript don’t match up with the NCAA’s current list of courses for your school, it could cause a delay in your certification. Each school has a different list of NCAA core courses. Honest Game can help with all of this! Check your Honest Game report to see if you’re on track!
When you register with the NCAA Eligibility Center, they assign you a number. This number is how the NCAA Eligibility Center tracks your eligibility status and certification. College coaches will ask for your number to confirm you’ve submitted your transcript. Log into your NCAA Eligibility Center account to find your number.
High School student-athletes who want to compete at the NCAA DI or DII level must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. In order to take an official visit, high school students must have registered and also had a copy of their school transcript submitted by a counselor. In order to compete and earn a scholarship, you must be first certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Registering with the NCAA EC will not trigger academic review. You will want your Honest Game report now to ensure you’re on track.
For DIII, you must request your final amateurism certification through your Eligibility Center account; the Eligibility Center cannot finalize your amateurism certification without your request. International college-bound student-athletes (first-year enrollees and transfers) who initially enroll full time at an NCAA Division III school on or after Aug. 1, 2023, must have their amateur status certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
For DIII, you must request your final amateurism certification through your Eligibility Center account; the Eligibility Center cannot finalize your amateurism certification without your request. International college-bound student-athletes (first-year enrollees and transfers) who initially enroll full time at an NCAA Division III school on or after Aug. 1, 2023, must have their amateur status certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
The NCAA recommends you register sophomore year. Registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center will not trigger academic review. Check your Honest Game report to ensure you’re on track.
Get recruited: to get an athletic scholarship, you have to make yourself known to college coaches as an athlete who will impact their team. Make yourself known by getting seen in competitions, sending your highlight reel, filling out recruiting questionnaires, going to camps and showcases, reaching out to college coaches, and visiting college campuses.
Be academically eligible to compete: college coaches want to recruit students who can compete under the NCAA rules and who will be academically successful at their college - academic redshirts are allowed on the DI and DII sliding scales, but each coach will decide if they want to take the penalty of you not competing your first year.
Be academically admissible: College coaches can’t recruit students whose academic record is not strong enough to pass admission standards. In the end, you still have to apply to the college and be accepted. Each college has a different set of admissions standards. NCAA DI, DII, NAIA, and NJCAA can all give some form of athletic financial aid. NCAA DIII does not give athletic financial aid; however, they are able to give other forms of financial assistance. Money is money! The NCAA has a great infographic on scholarship statistics. We find it most interesting that the average NCAA DIII student-athlete receives $17,000 in financial aid.
Be academically eligible to compete: college coaches want to recruit students who can compete under the NCAA rules and who will be academically successful at their college - academic redshirts are allowed on the DI and DII sliding scales, but each coach will decide if they want to take the penalty of you not competing your first year.
Be academically admissible: College coaches can’t recruit students whose academic record is not strong enough to pass admission standards. In the end, you still have to apply to the college and be accepted. Each college has a different set of admissions standards. NCAA DI, DII, NAIA, and NJCAA can all give some form of athletic financial aid. NCAA DIII does not give athletic financial aid; however, they are able to give other forms of financial assistance. Money is money! The NCAA has a great infographic on scholarship statistics. We find it most interesting that the average NCAA DIII student-athlete receives $17,000 in financial aid.
Fill out a transcript request form in your counselor’s office or email your counselor and ask for the transcript to be submitted. They can upload your transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center portal virtually.
If you graduate high school in the first four years, you may take up to one unit (two semesters or three trimesters) of NCAA-approved core courses after high school graduation before enrolling as a college student. If you have a documented Education-Impacting Disability (EID) that is approved by the NCAA, you may take up to three units (six semesters or nine trimesters) of NCAA-approved core courses after high school graduation. See more details in the NCAA College Bound Student Athlete Guide. If you don’t graduate in the first four years of high school, the NCAA DI will not count any courses taken after the end of the 4th year. NCAA DII will allow you to take any number of courses before enrolling in college.
The NCAA states "you can earn credit for a core course only once. If you take a course that repeats the content of another core course, you earn credit for only one of these courses, and the higher grade counts towards your core-course GPA."
If a school allows a student to repeat a course covering the same curriculum, time frame and teaching/classroom environment, and they subsequently earn a higher grade, the NCAA will count the higher grade and credit towards the student's 16 core course requirements. For many schools, both grades will be taken into account to calculate the GPA. The NCAA will only take the better of the two grades.
This is different from a student taking a course via a "Credit Recovery" platform or learning module. Some school platforms or modes of non-traditional Credit Recovery have been deemed by the NCAA as not meeting NCAA core requirements. A note such as "Credit Recovery coursework from this school/program does not meet NCAA core-course legislation" will be noted on the high school's NCAA Eligibility Center portal. A credit recovery grade earned in a non-approved for NCAA course will neither count towards the 16 required NCAA Core units nor will it count towards the NCAA Core GPA.
First, you must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. Second, fill out the NCAA EID application. The application requires you to provide the following documentation: current, signed documentation of your EID by the treating professional; copy of your most recent IEP or 504 plan, or private school’s summary of accommodations; signed Buckley statement if a parent/guardian would like to discuss your EID with the NCAA, their name must be on the Buckley statement.
If you graduate high school in four years, NCAA DI allows you to take one unit (two semesters or three trimesters) of NCAA-approved core courses after high school graduation (4th year of high school) and before enrolling full-time as a college student. These units cannot replace grades that are locked in by the 10/7 rule (DI). NCAA DII allows you to take unlimited NCAA-approved core courses before enrolling as a full-time college student.
The NCAA Eligibility Center has a registration fee of $70. If you qualify for free/reduced lunch or an ACT/SAT fee waiver, you will qualify for a fee waiver to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center. A school staff member must log in to the NCAA Eligibility Center portal and approve your fee waiver request.
Visit this website: https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/. The registration process will take around 30 minutes depending on the student. Questions are as simple as where do you attend high school, what club teams have you played for, and amateurism type questions. Registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center will not trigger academic review. You will want your Honest Game report to ensure you’re on track.
The NCAA Eligibility Center recommends high school students register sophomore year. Some students choose to wait to pay the $70 fee until they are sure they are going to compete in NCAA DI or DII. You can register with the NCAA Eligibility Center with a “free” account if you are unsure you will go DI or DII and transfer that account to a paid account later.
No. DIII doesn’t require specific academic requirements other than being admitted into the college or university. You can register with the NCAA Eligibility Center with a “free” account if you are unsure you will go DI or DII.
For DIII, you must request your final amateurism certification through your Eligibility Center account; the Eligibility Center cannot finalize your amateurism certification without your request. International college-bound student-athletes (first-year enrollees and transfers) who initially enroll full time at an NCAA Division III school on or after Aug. 1, 2023, must have their amateur status certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
For DIII, you must request your final amateurism certification through your Eligibility Center account; the Eligibility Center cannot finalize your amateurism certification without your request. International college-bound student-athletes (first-year enrollees and transfers) who initially enroll full time at an NCAA Division III school on or after Aug. 1, 2023, must have their amateur status certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
No. NCAA DIII only requires that you be admitted to the college in order to compete.
Choose courses in core subject areas that are NCAA-approved. Choose credit recovery courses that are NCAA-approved. Prepare for the SAT/ACT test; Know what score you need; Use your PSAT as a predictor. Take the SAT/ACT more than once, and don’t wait until the last minute. Some students take the SAT/ACT four or five times until they get the score they need. Know that your grades count starting DAY ONE freshman year. Tell your counselor about your dreams of playing college sports. The higher your grades and test scores, the more financial and athletic opportunities you will have at the college level.
Spend the same amount of time and effort on academics as you do on your sport. You would never go into a game without doing drills, workouts, practices, scrimmages, etc. Think of your daily and weekly assignments as drills, workouts, and practices, and the midterm or final like the championship. If you don’t achieve academically, you have fewer options to get to the next level of college athletics.
If you are “recruited” to a college team, it means the college coach identified you as a student-athlete who is possibly/likely admissible to the college based on your academic record and that coach believes you will make an impact on the team’s performance.
Getting recruited is a trial and error process for many student-athletes. It is up to you to be proactive in reaching out to college coaches and to be realistic about your academic and athletic potential. Don’t be afraid to send your video and statistics out by email. Do research about college teams, their team roster and schedule, and evaluate their statistics against your own to find the right fit. The ideal fit would be a great academic fit where you are one of the top recruits. If you are at the bottom of the roster, you are unlikely to get recruited.
The NCAA DI and DII have a recruiting calendar for specific sports. Generally, coaches may start contacting students the summer after sophomore year. DIII allows students to contact coaches at any time. You should reach out to coaches directly. Don’t wait for them to come to you!
In January 2023, NCAA DI and DII adopted legislation to remove standardized test scores from initial-eligibility requirements. NCAA DIII does not require students to be certified in order to compete. Check with the NCAA school you plan to attend regarding whether standardized test scores are necessary for admission or scholarship requirements.
DIII colleges cannot guarantee financial aid until after you apply and are admitted. However, if you are admitted, but cannot afford the financial package offered, you may be able to withdraw your early decision application.
If you are on an athletic scholarship, you are considered a “counter”. A counter’s additional non-athletic financial aid could be counted towards the athletic scholarship amount the college team is allotted. You will need to check with your college financial aid office to confirm what type of merit or grant-based aid you may receive. NCAA DIII does not give athletic scholarships, so you have more flexibility to piece together different forms of financial aid together.