The NCAA announced today that it will be extending the COVID-19 initial eligibility policies for student-athletes graduating in the class of 2022. According to a press release from the NCAA:

Students who initially enroll full time during the 2021-22 or 2022-23 academic years and intend to play NCAA Division I or II athletics will not be required to take a standardized test to meet NCAA initial-eligibility requirements.

“Many testing centers around the world remain closed or with limited capacities, and this makes it hard for some prospective student-athletes to take a standardized test,” NCAA Eligibility Center Vice President Felicia Martin said. “Our members decided that extending the 2021-22 COVID-19 initial-eligibility policies was most fair for current high school juniors who will initially enroll in college during the 2022-23 academic year.”

Similar to 2021-22 policies, student-athletes enrolling in a Division I school during the 2022-23 academic year will be academically eligible by earning a 2.3 grade-point average in 16 NCAA-approved core courses, with 10 core courses (seven in English, math and science) completed by the start of their seventh semester in high school (before senior year).

Student-athletes enrolling in a Division II school during the 2021-22 or 2022-23 academic year will be academically eligible by earning a 2.2 grade-point average in 16 NCAA-approved core courses.

International student-athletes enrolling in a Division I or II school during the 2021-22 or 2022-23 academic year will be academically eligible if they earn at least a 2.3 GPA in 16 core-course units in Division I or a 2.2 GPA in those core courses in Division II.

These standards, which do not require submission of a standardized test score, will be considered automatic waivers, meaning that students who meet these criteria are academically eligible to receive an athletics scholarship, practice and compete in their first year at an NCAA member school.