Page 239 - 2019-20 NJCAA Handbook - May, 2020

Student-Athlete R is a first semester freshman and attempts 14 credit hours in his first full-time semester at Community
College A. Of the 14 credit hours attempted, Student-Athlete R earns/passes 8 credit hours. Student-Athlete R is a baseball
player - is he eligible for participation during the spring term?
ANSWER:
No. Student-Athlete R did not earn/pass 12 or more credit hours to meet NJCAA bylaws. Also, the term must be counted
as full-time because he attempted 12 or more credit hours.
NOTE: When establishing eligibility for a student-athlete use the earned/passed credit hours with the corresponding quality
points to figure the GPA. NJCAA bylaws refer to “passing” credit hours. The number of full-time terms the student-athlete has
been enrolled is figured by the attempted hours in each term. If the student-athlete has attempted (or been enrolled in) 12 or
more hours for a term beyond the first 18 calendar days (not to end on a weekend or Federal Holiday), that term is considered
as a full-time term. On transcripts the Attempted Hours (AHRS) and the Earned Hours (EHRS) can sometimes be confusing.
Please make sure to keep these two areas separate when establishing a student-athlete's eligibility.

Case 5
Certificate Programs at Technical or Trade Schools – How to Count Credits
SITUATION:
Student-Athlete R has attended a trade school after high school graduation and has earned a certificate as well as 30-
credit hours in welding. He is now attending Community College A full-time and wants to participate in athletics. How are these
30-credit hours counted towards his overall eligibility?
ANSWER:
If the welding program is only a certificate program and not a college degree program, the hours earned may not be used
for eligibility purposes. Only if the certificate is earned in a college degree program, can those hours be counted towards
eligibility.

GPA

Case 1
Computation of GPA
SITUATION:
Community College A calculates the GPA based upon the following scale:
A = 4.00 B+ = 3.33 C+ = 2.33 D+ = 1.33
A- = 3.67 B = 3.00 C = 2.00 D = 1.00
B- = 2.67 C- = 1.67
Should Community College A use the GPA shown above to file NJCAA eligibility?
ANSWER:
Yes. NJCAA bylaws allow each college to determine the GPA by using the grade point average determination system in
place within the college catalog. A pass/fail course may be computed as a "C" grade, if successfully completed. The same for
a credit/no-credit course.

Case 2
Rounding the GPA
SITUATION:
Student-Athlete R passed an accumulation of 36 semester credits with a 1.9986 GPA. Can the 1.9986 be rounded up to
2.00 to satisfy the requirements of Article V, Section 2.D.2.e?
ANSWER:
No. In determining the GPA, it is not permissible to round up the computed GPA. The best hours concept may be used but
rounding the GPA up is not allowed.

Case 3
Clock Hours
SITUATION:
Some community colleges use clock hours rather than credit hours in determining their student-athletes' load. Can clock
hours be used to satisfy the requirements of this section?
ANSWER:
Yes. These hours count providing the number of clock hours the student-athletes take are equivalent to 12 "credit" hours
of college work. Member colleges that use clock hours must submit their plans for conversion to the Office of Eligibility prior to
filing their eligibility lists.

Case 4
Conversion of Semester and Quarter Credits
SITUATION:
Section 2.D.3 requires that a student-athlete accumulate 24 semester credit hours or 28/36 quarter credit hours prior to a
second season of participation. How does one compute this requirement when a student-athlete has attended a college which
offers quarter credits and another that offers semester credits?
ANSWER:
The proper procedure is to convert the credits from all previous colleges to the same type of credits which the college uses
where the student-athlete will be participating.
- The formula for converting quarter credits to semester credits is to multiply 2/3 x quarter credit hours = semester
credit hours (2/3 x 36 quarter credit hours = 24 semester credit hours).