-UNK Admissions
The University of Nebraska at Kearney has a long and respected tradition as a top university that demands the best of its students. Your high-school academic, extracurricular and community activities are part of the information you will be asked to submit in your application, as are standardized test scores. Requirements for admission will vary depending on whether you have attended other colleges or training schools, are reapplying to the University, or are applying to certain schools, departments or programs for more information please click on UNK Admissions.
-NCAA Eligibility Center
The first step in your quest to become a part of an Athletic program at the University of Nebraska-Kearney is to register with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Center. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact the compliance department at 308-865-8863.
NCAA Eligibility Center
-National Letter of Intent
The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an institution in which the institution agrees to provide a prospective student-athlete who is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules athletics aid for one academic year in exchange for the prospect's agreement to attend the institution for one academic year. All colleges and universities that participate in the NLI program agree to not recruit a prospective student-athlete once he/she signs an NLI with another college or university. Therefore, a prospective student-athlete who signs an NLI should no longer receive recruiting contacts and calls and is ensured an athletics scholarship for one academic year. The NLI must be accompanied by an institutional financial aid agreement. If the student-athlete does not enroll at that institution for a full academic year, he/she may be subject to specific penalties, including loss of a season of eligibility and a mandatory residence requirement.
National Letter of Intent Website
-Financial Aid
FAFSA Website -How do I get help with college expenses?
Check with the UNK's Office of Financial Aid. Financial aid personnel can answer your questions about paying for your college education and can provide information about federal and state monies available to college students.
UNK Financial Aid Office
-Other Helpful Websites
A free PDF guide for College Bound Student Athletes here.
Preparing to be a Collegiate Athlete: Helpful Tips to Follow
Go online and register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at the beginning of your junior year in high school. Be sure to complete the registration process in full. Answer all the questions as truthfully as possible. Incomplete answers or incorrectly reported information may jeopardize your eligibility status.
Send your transcripts to the Eligibility Center by requesting your high school guidance counselor to send your transcripts at the end of your junior year and immediately following high school graduation.
Send your test scores by entering in the "9999" code when registering for the SAT or ACT. If you forgot to do this when registering you may log on to your pertaining test website and request to have your test scores sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Request a final certification. Make sure to log back in during your senior year and update any new information and request final amateurism certification. Beginning April 1 for fall enrollees and beginning October 1 for spring enrollees.
Graduate "on time" from high school in eight semesters (four years).
Ask your High School's guidance department to update its NCAA List of Approved Core Courses. Please see the list of core courses below for Division II:
• 14 core courses are required. (Core Course requirement will change to 16 core courses for those entering a collegiate institution full-time on or after August 1, 2013)
• 3 years of English
• 2 years of Mathematics
• 2 years of Natural or physical science (including at least one laboratory course if offered by the High School)
• 2 years of additional courses in English, mathematics or natural or physical science (this will change to 3 years August 1, 2013)
• 2 years social science
• 3 years additional academic courses [in any of the above areas or foreign language, philosophy or nondoctrinal religion (e.g., comparative religion) courses] (this will change to 4 years August 1, 2013)
Important Definitions:
Qualifier: A qualifier is a student who, for the purposes of determining eligibility for financial aid, practice and competition in Divisions I and II institutions, has met all of the following requirements.
(a) Graduation from High School;
(b) Successful completion of a required core curriculum consisting of a minimum number of courses in specified subjects, (core course requirements are listed above)
(c) Specified minimum grade-point average of 2.0 in core curriculum; and
(d) Specified minimum SAT (820) or ACT (68 composite) score.
Partial Qualifier: A partial qualifier is a student who does not meet the requirements for a qualifier but who, at the time of graduation from high school, presents of the following academic requirements.
(a) Successful completion of a required core curriculum consisting of a minimum number of courses and a specified minimum grade-point average in the core curriculum; or
(b) specified minimum SAT or ACT score.
*Please note that partial qualifiers are allowed to practice and receive athletics grant-in-aid, but are NOT allowed to compete for one full year.
Non-qualifier: A non-qualifier is a student who has not graduated from high school or who, at the time specified in the regulation, presented neither the core-curriculum grade-point average and SAT/ACT score required for a qualifier.
*Please note that non-qualifiers may NOT practice, receive athletics-grant-in-aid or compete for their first year of residency.
Are you Being Recruited? Here is some helpful information:
A Recruited Prospective Student-Athlete is someone who has received or participated in the following actions by staff members or athletics representatives of the institution:
a) Providing the prospective student-athlete with an official visit;
b) Having arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete’s relatives or legal guardian(s);
c) Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with the prospective student-athlete, the prospective student-athlete’s relatives, or legal guardian(s) on more than one occasion for the purpose of recruitment;
d) Issuing a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of athletically related financial aid to a prospective student-athlete.
Is there a difference between an Official Visit and an Unofficial Visit? YES, and here is why!
Official (Paid) Visit: An official visit to a member institution by a prospective student-athlete is a visit financed in whole or in part by the member institution.
• There is a one-visit limitation meaning that a member institution may only finance one visit to its campus for a prospective student-athlete.
• Number of Official Visits – Prospective Student-Athlete Limitation: A prospective student-athlete may take a maximum of FIVE expense-paid visits, with no more than one permitted to any single institution. This restriction applies regardless of the number of sports in which the prospective student-athlete is involved and only for expense-paid visits to Division I and II institutions.
• A prospective student-athlete may not be provided an expense-paid visit earlier than the opening day of classes of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year in high school.
So what are the requirements for an Official Visit?
a) The Prospective Student-Athlete must present a score from a PSAT, an SAT, a PLAN or an ACT test taken on a national testing date under national testing conditions or an ACT test taken on a state testing date under state testing conditions. The score must be presented in writing through a testing-agency document or on a high school (or college) academic transcript (official or unofficial) or through the use of the applicable testing agency’s automated-voice system.
b) Registers with the NCAA Eligibility Center. (instructions for this are listed above)
c) Is placed on the institution’s institutional request list (IRL) with the with the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Unofficial Visit: An unofficial visit to a member institution by a prospective student-athlete is a visit made at the prospective student-athlete’s own expense. The provision of any expenses or entertainment by the institution or representatives of its athletics interest shall require the visit to become an official visit, except for expenses or entertainment permitted per bylaw 13.7.2.
Other Helpful Terminology:
National Letter of Intent. The National Letter of Intent is the official document administered by the Collegiate Commissioners Association and used by subscribing member institutions to establish the commitment of a prospective student-athlete to attend a particular institution.
Prospective Student-Athlete. A prospective student-athlete is a student who has started classes for the ninth grade. In addition, a student who has not started classes for the ninth grade becomes a prospective student-athlete, if the institution provides such an individual any financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally. An individual remains a prospective student-athlete until one of the following occurs;
a) The individual officially registers and enrolls in a minimum full-time program of studies and attends classes in any term of a four-year collegiate institution’s regular academic year.
b) The individual participates in a regular-squad practice or competition at a four-year collegiate institution.