INDIANAPOLIS—In its continuing effort to better ensure the integrity of academic credentials used by some high schools in the initial eligibility process, the NCAA will no longer accept core courses and graduation from 15 additional high schools for determining prospects’ initial eligibility to compete in intercollegiate athletics.

This brings the total number of high schools that will not be used in the process of evaluating initial eligibility to 24, including schools previously released.

Students from these schools who seek to play college sports can still have their academic records reviewed prior to enrolling in college. Students most negatively affected will be those who fraudulently obtained their academic requirements, said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice-president for membership services.

Another 22 high schools have been cleared for use in the NCAA’s initial eligibility process only for prospects from those institutions entering college in Fall 2006. The future status of these 22 institutions is still under review, and prospects from these schools may still have to undergo a review of their individual academic records.

All of the approximately 100 high schools reviewed so far were identified based on irregularities in academic records, the nontraditional nature of their course content or their recent request for approval from the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

Lennon said the high schools that appear on the lists fall into three broad categories: those that did not adequately respond to requests for information; those that submitted information that verified they did not meet NCAA standards for initial eligibility; and those schools that cooperated but for which the NCAA still has questions.

"The vast majority of high schools in the country, public and private, do a fine job of educating their students,” Lennon said. “But we will continue to be vigilant to ferret out those schools that are providing miraculous academic recoveries for students in a short amount of time and with little-to-no instruction. Hardly anyone would claim that legitimate education takes place under those kinds of conditions."

For the schools that remain under review, Lennon said, additional information and further examination is needed to determine if students attending these high schools in 2006-07 and beyond may use academic credentials from these institutions for NCAA initial eligibility purposes. The NCAA has established a national high school review committee, which includes members from the higher education and secondary school communities, to consider appeals from high schools.

"The review of high schools in the initial eligibility process is an on-going effort," Lennon emphasized. “If additional information is submitted a school may be reconsidered."

Lennon, who chaired the national working group Brand formed last year to examine nontraditional high schools, said prospects should not seek to bolster their eligibility by attending multiple high schools. Such behavior will result in increased scrutiny, he said. Lennon added the NCAA has been tracking these issues over the past couple of years.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors and the Division II Presidents Council in April approved a number of changes to strengthen initial eligibility for incoming student-athletes, including the expanded review of high schools.

Over the next year, those NCAA governing bodies will consider legislation to require prospects to successfully complete all of their core courses in their first eight semesters of high school. If a student graduates within eight semesters, they would be allowed to take one additional core course to meet NCAA initial eligibility requirements.

Lennon said such a legislative change would strongly encourage high school graduation and greatly reduce academic fraud.

NCAA President Myles Brand said the high school review process has already resulted in a number of positive outcomes.

"Several ‘storefront’ schools have closed their doors, we have discouraged other similar schools from beginning operation, and college and university admissions offices are paying closer attention to transcripts from students who attend nontraditional high schools," Brand said. "Overall, this process has reinforced the fact that academic readiness is critical and needs to play a prominent role in secondary-school operation and the high schools that students choose to attend."

As the issue of potential academic fraud extends beyond athletics to all of higher education, Brand added that the NCAA has discussed these issues with the National Association of Attorneys General and is in the process of developing a letter with other concerned entities to be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.