NAIA ELIGIBILITY RULES
If the athlete has never competed for an NAIA school, they must be deemed eligible through the NAIA Eligibility Center before they can compete. Registering in the center and providing them the necessary information is the responsibility of the student. You can register by clicking HERE.
All players must be deemed eligible before they can compete against a team from another school (including JV games, scrimmages and exhibitions).
Once they have gone into one game against another school (including JV games) and were on the field/court for a minimum of one play, they will be charged a year of eligibility for that season (scrimmages, exhibition games and medical hardships are the only exceptions to this).
FOR ALL SEASONS OF COMPETITION:
12-hour rule: You must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 institutional credits for the semester that athletes wish to compete.
Seniors who need less than 12 units to graduate able to take less than 12 units. They need to confirm this with their coach, FAR, and Athletic Director.
If they are taking repeat classes that they had previously received a ‘D’ or better in prior semesters, then they can only count one of these classes toward the 12-hour rule (Student-athletes can count all repeats in which you received an “F” previously)
FIRST SEASON OF COMPETITION:
Entering freshmen must meet two of the following three requirements:
- Overall high school GPA of 2.0 or higher
- Graduated in the upper half of your high school graduating class
- Tests taken after May 1, 2019 require minimum score of 18 on ACT and 970 on SAT
Tests taken prior to May 1, 2019 require minimum score of 16 on ACT and 860 on SAT
To be eligible in the second full time semester, the athlete must have also passed a minimum of 9 institutional credits in the first semester.
Transfers and continuing students are students who have completed at least 2 full-time academic semesters.
These student-athletes must meet the following criteria:
24/36-hour rule: Must have accumulated at least 24 institutional credits in the last two full-time semesters or 36 institutional credits in the past three full-time quarters (12 credits may be used in part-time and summer terms accumulated during this timeframe).
SECOND SEASON OF COMPETITION:
- Must meet the 24-hour rule
- 24-hour progress rule: Must have accumulated at least 24 overall institutional credits
THIRD SEASON OF COMPETITION:
- Must meet the 24-hour rule
- 48-hour progress rule: Must have accumulated at least 48 overall institutional credits
- 2.0 GPA: Cumulative GPA must be a 2.0 or higher
FOURTH SEASON OF COMPETITION:
- Must meet the 24-hour rule
- 72-hour progress rule: Must have accumulated at least 72 overall institutional credits and must meet the 48-hour rule, which states that the athlete must have completed at least 48 credits toward your major (Non-required elective courses and credits toward a non-required minor do not count)
- 2.0 GPA: Cumulative GPA must be a 2.0 or higher
** Repeated courses: If failed in prior attempts, they are countable. If the athlete received a ‘C’ or better previously, they cannot count them toward the 24-hour rule. Keep in mind that cumulative GPA is based on the grade received in the last attempt. In other words, if an athlete receives a ‘C’ and then repeats the class and receives an ‘F’, the ‘C’ is wiped out and only the ‘F’ is used to calculate GPA.
** All new transfers must complete the NAIA Transfer Form. Transfers from a 4-year institution must be in residence at Marymount California University for 16 calendar weeks before they can be eligible, unless the athletes former institution providess a written release.
