Division II Baseball Eligibility & Scholarship Rules

T he NCAA governs most aspects of collegiate sports, including eligibility and scholarship limits. The NCAA eligibility standards are uniform across all sports, but the number of athletic scholarships a university may award vary by division and sport. Division II schools may award the equivalent of nine full scholarships for baseball.

  1. High School Requirements

    • Prospective student athletes must meet minimum academic standards for eligibility to play. Student athletes considering Division II colleges must have a minimum grade point average of 2.0, equal to a C average. Prospective athletes must score at least an 820 on the SAT or 68 on the ACT. In addition to the grade point requirements, NCAA requires that prospective Division II athletes complete at least 14 core courses in high school. The core courses include three years of English, two years of math at the algebra I level and beyond; two years of natural or physical science; two additional years of math, English or science; two years of social science; and three additional years in any of these areas or foreign language, philosophy or non-doctrinal religion. On Aug. 1, 2013 students planning to attend a Division II school need to take 16 core courses.

    Amateur Status

    • The NCAA requires that student athletes maintain their amateur status during their academic careers in order to participate in intercollegiate sports. According the NCAA bylaws, student athletes ought to be motivated to get an education and play sports and not get paid. To that end, NCAA certifies each student athlete at the Division I and II levels as amateurs. Student athletes forfeit their amateur status if they receive any remuneration directly or indirectly for playing sports or if they compete for a profession team and not get paid. Scholarships and other academic aid do not count as long as the recipient uses the money for tuition, room and board, clothing and other school expenses.

    Academic Eligibility

    • Finally, student athletes must make adequate progress toward graduation and maintain at least a minimum GPA. According to NCAA requirements, student athletes must complete their degrees by 40 percent by the end of their second year, 60 percent by the end of the third year and 80 percent by the end of the fourth year. Additionally, student athletes must maintain a 1.8 GPA as freshmen, 1.9 GPA as sophomores and 2.0 GPA as juniors and seniors. Individual schools may impose additional academic requirements on athletes. Students are normally eligible to play college sports for five years.

    Scholarship Limits

    • The NCAA allows Division II schools to award the equivalent of 60 scholarships for men's sports, excluding football and basketball. Furthermore, the NCAA limits Division II schools to offering the equivalent of nine full scholarships for baseball. For example, a school could offer nine full baseball scholarships or 18 half scholarships. Individual conferences may further limit the number of athletic scholarships that member institutions can offer. The Ivy League schools do not offer any athletic scholarships.