Amateurism certification ensures that NCAA amateurism regulations are applied uniformly for incoming student-athletes. The process is a collaborative effort among student-athletes, NCAA member schools and the NCAA Eligibility Center., which determines initial amateur and academic eligibility.
The amateur-certification process start when college-bound Divisions I and II student-athletes register with the Eligibility Center. (In Division III, amateur certification is completed individually by the college or university.)
College-bound student-athletes are encouraged to register with the
Eligibility Center at the beginning of their junior year in high school.
As part of the process, each college-bound student-athlete is asked to answer several questions regarding his or her sports-participation history. This is to capture a better picture of the prospect’s amateur status and to identify any potential issues that might conflict with NCAA rules. If the answers indicate a possible violation, the amateur-certification staff will work with the school to determine the facts. If the agreed-upon facts indicate a violation occurred, an eligibility penalty will be imposed based on the severity of the violations. Penalties include repayment of money, sitting out a specified number of games or, in rare cases, permanent ineligibility. Most college-bound student-athletes who complete the amateurism certification process are certified. Less than one percent of student-athletes seeking amateur certification receive any sort of amateurism-related penalty. Every year, approximately 180,000 college-bound student-athletes register to have their academic credentials and amateurism status certified. Over 90 percent of those who register are automatically certified. About seven percent every year do not meet the credentials and academic standards of the division in which they want to compete and about 600 college-bound student-athletes are not certified because of amateurism issues.
For information on requesting final amateurism, please follow the links below:
How to request final amateurism
Amateurism decision inquiry process FAQ
Amateur Athletic Clubs
College-bound student-athletes may participate in amateur sports clubs as long as they do not receive expenses in excess of travel, lodging or equipment for practice or competition. A prospect may accept prize money based on performance in an open competition as long as the prize is awarded by the sponsor of the event and the amount of the prize does not exceed the student-athlete’s expenses to compete in the event. College or university representatives may not help with fundraising efforts for a student-athlete’s amateur club team.
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