The NCAA welcomes you into the family of college athletes, whose experiences on the field and in the classroom lead to sharper minds, stronger bodies and more fulfilling lives.
What is the National Collegiate Athletic Association?
The NCAA is made up of 1,123 colleges and universities and more than 100 athletics conferences, plus 39 affiliated organizations.
Representatives from our member schools — including college presidents and chancellors, athletics directors, faculty members, health and safety personnel, coaches, academic support staff and, of course, college athletes themselves — serve on committees that guide college sports.
Their expertise shapes everything from recruiting rules and academic standards to the shot clock in a lacrosse game. Collectively, we work to ensure programs, teams and games operate as fairly as possible across the country.
Together, we are the NCAA.
Learn how the NCAA supports your journey through college.
Providing opportunities to earn a college degree is at the heart of our mission. We do that by setting standards that indicate readiness for the academic rigors of college and by tracking how student-athletes progress toward a degree once on campus.
We were founded in 1906 to keep college sports safe. Today, the NCAA works to protect college athletes’ mental and physical health and help provide the best care possible.
College sports should be built on a foundation of respect, integrity and responsibility. We are committed to providing a fair and inclusive environment for college athletes and sports fans.
We work to protect student-athletes physically and mentally, on and off the field.
We celebrate the accomplishments of college athletes with championship experiences that recognize hard work and mark successes. About 54,000 college athletes, or 1 in 9, participate in NCAA championships.
What does fairness mean at the NCAA?
Manage your life as a student-athlete.
Workouts, practices and games. Clubs and classes. Tutoring sessions and some social time. College athletes have a lot to juggle.
Manage your life as a student-athlete.
Workouts, practices and games. Clubs and classes. Tutoring sessions and some social time. College athletes have a lot to juggle.
Hank Davis, a guard for the La Salle men’s basketball team, graduated last year after maintaining a 3.75 GPA as a biology major. As part of his studies, he wrote a scholarly essay about time management published by the journal Adolescent Health and Wellness.
Here are Davis’ five tips for managing time.
Get involved on your campus.
College athletes help make decisions for the NCAA, and their opinions are first heard at the campus level. Want to get involved as a leader among student-athletes? Seek out your Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Get involved on your campus.
College athletes help make decisions for the NCAA, and their opinions are first heard at the campus level. Want to get involved as a leader among student-athletes? Seek out your Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
SAAC works to build community among college athletes and gather input on NCAA rules, regulations and policies that affect the daily lives of college athletes. Your conference has a SAAC, too, made up of student-athletes from each of the conference’s member schools. And each division has a national committee of student-athletes who sit alongside the college presidents and athletics administrators who set the course for the NCAA.
You know where you’re going to college. But what do you plan to study?
You know where you’re going to college. But what do you plan to study?
If you’re still looking for a major, think about the skill that all athletes develop — working as part of a team — and all the careers where you can put that skill to work.