General Rules
A student-athlete must accumulate a minimum of 24 institutional credit hours in his/her last two full time semesters (36 for quarter system) immediately previous to the current term of attendance. These are always initially taken at face value, even if a transfer is involved and the current institution does not accept all hours.
Each student-athlete must also be identified and enrolled in a minimum of 12 institutional credit hours at the time of participation, or, if the participation takes place between terms, the student-athlete must have been identified with the institution the term immediately before the date of competition. Graduating seniors and graduate students may be enrolled in fewer hours. All student-athletes shall be limited to ten (10) terms of attendance and four (4) years of eligibility.
Entering freshman
An entering freshman must be a graduate of an accredited high school or be accepted as a regular student in good standing as defined by the enrolling institution.
An entering freshman must also meet at least two of the listed three minimum requirements to be eligible for intercollegiate competition at the University:
1) A minimum score of 18 on the Enhanced ACT or 970 on the SAT* (unless taken on a previous date – see below). Only one qualifying test score is needed.
| Date Test Was Taken |
ACT |
SAT |
| Before 3/1/16 |
18 |
860 |
| Between 3/1/16 & 5/1/19 |
16 |
860 |
| After 5/1/19 |
18 |
970 |
*As it relates to COVID-19 a freshman exception has been issued for the 2020-2021 academic year since ACT/SAT testing dates have been impacted by the pandemic. Please contact the coach or the Director of Compliance for more information.
2) Overall high school grade point average of 2.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
3) Graduate in the top 50% of the student’s high school graduating class.
Transfer Students
Rules and regulations regarding eligibility for transfer students are very detailed. All transfer students are required to meet with the Director of Compliance and Faculty Athletic Representative to determine eligibility.
PlayNAIA Eligibility Center
All first-time athletic participants at the NAIA level must register and receive an ELIGIBLE determination with the PlayNAIA Eligibility Center (www.playnaia.org) prior to participating in order to determine initial eligibility. For more information contact the head coach or Director of Compliance about NAIA Eligibility.
In addition to the NAIA rules, the Keiser University Athletic Department has extended the following to all Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors:
A. GPA Eligibility Rules
1) A student-athlete that is a junior or above (academically and athletically) MUST maintain a 2.0 or higher GPA to be eligible to compete.
2) A student- athlete that is of Freshman/Sophomore status MUST maintain a 1.90 GPA or higher to be eligible to compete.
B. Receiving an eligible status and time frame to get deemed eligible by the NAIA Eligibility Center
1) Ineligible status - once a student starts a semester, they have the semester they started in to get through the NAIA Eligibility Center and receive a determination. If they do not receive a determination their aid will be removed the following semester and they are not eligible to get it back until the beginning of the next semester after they receive an eligibility decision.
Once a student receives an eligible decision, they will need to remain eligible to keep their athletic aid. If they become ineligible, they have 1 semester to get eligibility reinstated. If they do not become eligible, they will lose their athletic aid. Aid will not be qualified for reinstatement until the next semester that they are eligible.
2) No student can go more than 2 semesters in a row without being eligible and keep their athletic aid.
You Must Also:
- Be within your first 10 semesters, 12 trimesters or 15 quarters of attendance as a regularly enrolled student. A term of attendance is any semester, trimester or quarter in which you enroll for twelve or more institutional credit hours and attend any class or participate in an in an intercollegiate contest
- Have a cumulative grade point average of 2.000 on a 4.000 scale upon reaching junior academic standing. You must also maintain above a 2.000 grade point average throughout your junior and senior seasons in order to stay eligible
- Have accumulated 24 semester/36 quarter institutional credit hours to participate the second season of a sport
- Have accumulated 48 semester/72 quarter institutional credit hours to participate the third season of a sport
- Have accumulated 72 semester/108 quarter institutional credit hours to participate the fourth season of a sport. These hours must include at least 48/72 quarter hours in general education and/or your major field of study
- Be an amateur, as defined by the NAIA, in the sport(s) in which you participate
You May Not:
- Participate for more than four seasons in any one sport. A season of competition is defined as participation in one or more intercollegiate contests, whether as a freshman, junior varsity or varsity participant, or in any other athletic competition in which the institution, as such, is represented during a sport season.
View the eligibility requirements
here
