Core Course Estimator

Your NCAA core GPA isn't the GPA on your report card. It's recalculated from 16 specific courses, on a scale that ignores pluses and minuses. Enter what you've taken and see where you actually stand. Everything saves in this browser.

Before You Start

The NCAA rebuilds your GPA from 16 specific academic courses, called core courses, and only those grades count. An A in weightlifting does nothing for it. That recalculated number decides whether you can compete as a freshman: Division I wants a 2.3, Division II a 2.2.

Pull up two things before you start: your transcript, and your high school's list of NCAA-approved courses. That list decides whether a class counts at all, and it's specific to your school. Your counselor has it, or you can look your school up at eligibilitycenter.org/courselist.

1Enter one row per course, in the year you took itOnly courses that appear on your school's approved list. The year matters because Division I locks part of the requirement before senior year starts.
2Use the credit your transcript showsA semester class is 0.50, a full-year class is 1.00. The NCAA weights a full-year course twice as heavily as a semester one, so the credit value is what makes the GPA come out right.
3Add the classes you haven't taken yetLeave the grade on "Not yet." They won't touch your GPA, and you'll see whether your current schedule covers the subjects you still owe.
4Grades are letters onlyThe Eligibility Center ignores pluses and minuses, so a B+, a B and a B- are all worth the same three points. Enter the base letter.

You'll get an estimated core GPA for both Division I and Division II, the subjects you're still short in, and a check against Division I's 10/7 deadline. Print the result and take it to your counselor.

I'm in my senior year or already graduatedTurns the Division I 10/7 readout from a projection into a locked result.My school reports weighted honors grades to the NCAAWeighted honors and AP grades only raise your core GPA if your high school has its weighting policy on file with the NCAA Eligibility Center, and the bonus is capped at 1.00 point. Weighting that's only used for class rank doesn't count. Ask your counselor before you turn this on. If you're not sure, leave it off and this estimate stays conservative.

Freshman year

CourseSubjectCreditGrade

Sophomore year

No courses added for sophomore year yet.

Junior year

No courses added for junior year yet.

Senior year

No courses added for senior year yet.

Where You Stand

Division I-- / 2.3 neededAdd grades

Division II-- / 2.2 neededAdd grades

These differ because each division counts a different 16 courses.

Estimated Division I core GPA--Division I floor: 2.3Add grades

Add a grade to any course and your estimated core GPA shows up here.

Counting 0 of 16 core units, 0.000 quality points.

The 10/7 deadline

Division I requires 10 core units finished before senior year starts, 7 of them in English, math or science.

Core units before senior year0 of 10

Of those, in English, math or science0 of 7

Senior year locks these numbers. Front-load core classes now, while you still have semesters to work with.

Division I needs 16 core units spread across these subjects. “With your schedule” counts the courses you added without a grade yet.
Subject	Required	With your schedule	Short
English	4	1	3
Math	3	1	2
Science	2	1	1
Extra English, math or science	1	0	1
Social science	2	1	1
Additional academic courses	4	0	4

Estimated Division II core GPA--Division II floor: 2.2Add grades

Add a grade to any course and your estimated core GPA shows up here.

Counting 0 of 16 core units, 0.000 quality points.

Division II needs 16 core units spread across these subjects. “With your schedule” counts the courses you added without a grade yet.
Subject	Required	With your schedule	Short
English	3	1	2
Math	2	1	1
Science	2	1	1
Extra English, math or science	3	0	3
Social science	2	1	1
Additional academic courses	4	0	4

What About Division III?

There is no number to calculate for D3. The NCAA sets no D3-wide core-course requirement, GPA floor, or test standard. D3 schools use their own admissions standards, and recruits have to meet the same bar as everyone else applying. That's not the same as easy: a selective D3 can be harder to get into than a D1.

Only courses on your high school's NCAA-approved list count, and this tool can't check that list. Get it from your counselor or look your school up at eligibilitycenter.org/courselist.

This is an estimate built from the NCAA's published rules, not a certification. Only the NCAA Eligibility Center decides your eligibility, and it uses your official transcript.

Grades are counted unweighted unless you turned weighting on, and plus and minus grades are ignored, which is how the Eligibility Center does it.

Saved on this device. We never see your grades. On a shared or public computer, clear it when you're done.

Learn the rules behind it

This tool runs the NCAA's published initial-eligibility rules. Read these two to understand what the numbers mean and what to do with them.

Core courses & GPA by division The NCAA Eligibility Center

Intel Drop

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