Post-Secondary - Enroll, Enlist, Employ (Texas)
Post-Secondary Planning Document
Soon the data on this page will be populated by the student via email and form submission. Until then, the counselor can input the data needed for this page.
NCAA vs. NAIA - what’s the difference?
Updated on Mar 15, 2024
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) are two separate governing bodies of collegiate athletics. The NCAA is the governing body for more than 1,100 colleges and universities, serving close to 500,000 student-athletes across the country. It consists of three divisions (Division I, II, and III) and offers 24 sports.
The NAIA is comprised of 250 colleges and universities, offering a diverse range of 27 sports, with a minimum requirement of 6 sports per institution. NAIA schools typically enroll an average of 1,400 full-time students, including approximately 308 student-athletes. Notably, 82% of NAIA colleges are private, and 65% are faith-based institutions. Despite being smaller in scale compared to the NCAA, the NAIA boasts a substantial student-athlete population, with over 77,000 individuals actively participating in collegiate sports.
NCAA Eligibility
Criteria for determining NCAA eligibility can be located by clicking “Official NCAA…Eligibility Fact Sheet”. The top of the page details the requirements for Division I and Division II while the middle of the page lists the courses taken by and grades awarded to the student as well as the GPA for each division.
To see which courses your district has approval to offer through the NCAA, log in to your NCAA High School account here.
NAIA Eligibility
NAIA Eligibility is a bit different in that there are some exceptions due to the timing of tests. Therefore, the NAIA page lists some of the requirements and has several links to resources to help determine eligibility.
To see what courses your students have approval to offer through NAIA, log in to your NAIA High School account here.