What is Reclassification? Reclassification refers to the process of a student graduating on a date that differs from the typical four-year high school timeline. While some students might reclass to graduate earlier than their classmates, student-athletes most often choose to repeat a year in high school to gain an athletic or academic advantage.
Reclassification is when a high school student graduates at a different time than the typical four-year timeline. Students may reclass to graduate earlier or later than their peers. Reclassification can be beneficial for several reasons, including: Academic advantage: Students may repeat a grade to improve their GPA. Athletic advantage: Student-athletes may repeat a year to gain an athletic advantage. College admissions: Students may repeat a grade to position themselves better for the college admissions process.
Reclassification is especially important for student-athletes, as graduating early from high school without changing the college enrollment date can impact eligibility. The same is true for athletes who graduate on time from high school but delay college enrollment. Reclassification is more common in private schools, where student-athletes can play five varsity seasons or have 10 semesters of eligibility. In Virginia's public high school system, student-athletes are limited to four varsity seasons or eight semesters of eligibility. Reclassification among student-athletes has become very popular in the last couple of years. And with the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of student-athletes choosing to reclassify has skyrocketed.
More and more students are deciding to reclass to continue developing academically and athletically before enrolling in college, but it’s important to pay attention to a few key things to ensure you are maintaining your NCAA eligibility. Don’t be one of the many reclassified students, who find out too late that they are short the required credits and can’t play NCAA DI sports. Graduating after your original 4-year graduation date: Students who reclassify and take a 5th or 6 years of high school before graduating high school, are evaluated by the NCAA for only the first 4 years of courses taken in high school. They cannot use any courses taken after the original 4-year graduation date to supplement NCAA eligibility requirements. Courses taken after 4 years of high school: If you graduate on time with your incoming first-year class, the course(s) you take can be with an institution that is not your graduating high school and must be taken before enrolling full-time at college.
The course(s) cannot replace course(s) that were locked in by the NCAA 10/7 Rule (also known as the “10/7 Lock”) but can go towards achieving credit requirements and raising your GPA by replacing the remaining 6 NCAA-approved units to meet requirements. Check your Honest Game report to understand which of your courses would have been locked by the 10/7 rule.
