Division II NCAA Progress Towards Degree 101: The Basics
What is "Progress Towards Degree"?:
The NCAA requires each student-athlete to meet specific academic requirements each semester and academic year to ensure that each student-athlete will progress towards a degree. Academic eligibility requirements are based on the number of terms of full-time enrollment at Florida Tech or any previous college/university attendance.
"Progress Towards Degree" - What Counts?:
First Two Years- Credits hours that are applicable to any Florida Tech degree may be used to meet the 24-credit hour requirement.
Beginning Third Year (5th Semester)- Credits hours must be applicable to the declared degree program in order to satisfy the 24-credit hour requirement.
*: Developmental/Remedial Courses can only be counted in a scholar-athletes first year of collegiate enrollment
**: If the student-athletes major requires a minor, the student-athlete can take an unlimited amount. If the scholar-athletes major does not require a minor, the student-athlete can take up to six credits from their declared minor.
Degree Designation:
Student-athletes need to have their major and minor declared and on their transcript before the first day of classes of the term for the compliance staff to count the credit hours for the term in which they are enrolling in. A student is permitted to be undecided their first two years of college but must officially declare their major starting their fifth semester of college.
What are the credit hour requirements for "Progress Towards Degree"?:
In order for a student-athlete to compete, practice or receive an athletic based scholarship, a student- athlete needs to be enrolled as a full-time student. During the regular academic year, a student athlete must complete a minimum of nine progress towards degree credit hours per regular academic semester in order to be eligible for the next academic semester. A student-athlete must also pass a minimum of 24 progress towards degree credit hours during the academic year, including the summer session, in order to be eligible for the next academic year.
What is the GPA requirement for "Progress Towards Degree"?:
The NCAA requires that Division II student-athletes earn a 2.0 minimum grade point average in order to meet satisfactory progress towards degree. The student-athlete must have a 2.0 GPA by the end of each academic year.
Repeating Courses:
The NCAA only permits a course to be counted once, if a student earns a proficient grade in that course. If a student either fails or withdraws from a course, the NCAA allows the course to be counted towards progress towards degree, since the student failed and/or withdrew previously.
Incomplete Grades:
The general rule of thumb with incomplete grades is that the course cannot count towards progress towards degree until a proficient grade has been posted.
Progress Toward Degree-What Counts?
First Two Years- Credits hours that are applicable to any Florida Tech degree may be used to meet the 24-credit hour requirement.
Beginning Third Year (5th Semester)- Credits hours must be applicable to the declared degree program in order to satisfy the percentage of degree requirement.
*: Developmental/Remedial Courses can only be counted in a student-athlete's first year of collegiate enrollment
**: If the student-athlete's major requires a minor the student-athlete can take an unlimited amount. If the student-athlete's major does not require a minor, the student-athlete can take up to six credits from their declared minor.
Progress Toward Degree: Credit Breakdown
Per Academic Year (Fall/Spring) - 9 Credits per semester
Prior to Following Fall Semester (Fall, Spring and Summer) - 24 Credits per year and minimum 2.0 GPA
Tips:
- The general rule of thumb that we follow is that if the course falls onto the student-athletes CAP degree audit report, then the course will count as progress towards degree.
- In some cases, general elective courses can count towards progress degree.
If you have any questions regarding progress towards degree, feel free to contact Jen Mercurio via email or telephone at jmercurio@fit.edu and 321-674-8931. If you have a student-athlete who wishes to withdraw from a course, they must receive a signature from the Athletic Compliance Office and check student-athlete on the registration change form.
