Information for Advising & Course Registration

Please use this information as a reference to advise student-athletes on their coursework at Virginia Tech. It is intended to provide you with guidelines regarding eligibility requirements for the University, NCAA, and the ACC.

NCAA Continuing Eligibility & Progress Toward Degree (PTD) requirements to maintain eligibility for competitions

1. Student-athletes must be enrolled "full-time" (12 credits for undergraduates, 9 for graduates) each semester to maintain NCAA eligibility for practice and competition.
   • Dropping below "full-time" status will immediately render them ineligible to compete/practice, and there may be financial aid consequences.
   • There is an exception for student-athletes in their graduating semester, given they are enrolled in everything they need for their degree to be awarded.
   • If a student-athlete wishes to drop below 12 hours, permission must be obtained from the University Registrar. 
   • Please note that a student's use of a Course Withdraw does NOT affect full-time status.
2. The NCAA requires that student-athletes are enrolled in a degree-granting major by the end of their 4^th semester.
   • For majors that require options, minors, concentrations, and/or cognates, these must be formally declared in order to satisfy this requirement.
3. When helping student-athletes with their class schedules, please make every effort to help them schedule courses without conflicting with their required practice times (free-time).
   • If a required course is offered only during practice time, please contact the SAASS office or ask the student to discuss the possible conflicts with their SAASS Counselor so that their practice block can be lifted to accommodate the class.
4. Credit Hour Rules
   • Freshmen student-athletes must pass 24 degree-applicable credit hours during their 1st year (Ex: summer, fall, spring, summer)
   • All student-athletes must earn:
     • a minimum of 6 degree-applicable credits every fall & spring semester
     • a minimum of 18 credit hours during the combination of fall and spring semesters each year
       • Baseball - must meet all NCAA PTD requirements by the fall semester to be eligible for the spring semester
       • Football - must earn 9 degree-applicable credit hours during the fall semester. or will be subject to a 4-game penalty the following year
   • Free electives taken beyond the student's allowable limit within their declared major cannot be used to satisfy the NCAA continuing eligibility rules as they do not help toward graduation
     • Minor required courses can only be used to satisfy the NCAA credit hour rules if the minor is applied for prior to the first day of the semester
   •  Student-athletes must meet the same GPA requirements as all VT students to maintain good academic standing
5. Minimum grade requirements & repeated courses:
   • During the first two years of a student-athlete's full-time enrollment, any passing grade will count even if a grade minimum exists for the course based on the major that the student-athlete has declared
   • Beginning with the student-athlete's 3rd year of full-time enrollment, the grade earned must meet the course minimum in order to be counted
     • When the course is repeated, and the minimum grade requirement is met, it will count

*Graduate students must maintain a 3.0 GPA at all times

Virginia Tech GPA Requirements:

• Below a 2.0 overall GPA = VT Academic Probation
• Below a 2.0 overall GPA for 2 consecutive semesters = VT Academic Suspension