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What is the NCAA?

Founded in 1906, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) comprises approximately 1024 schools, classified into three divisions. Division I schools tend to be larger universities, while Division II contains mostly intermediate-sized colleges. Schools in both of these categories offer athletic scholarships. Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships.

The NCAA sponsors 87 championships in 22 sports. Almost 362,000 student athletes compete annually for the NCAA titles.

Member colleges and universities pay the NCAA to establish and execute standards for determining individual students' initial academic eligibility. In order to fulfill this responsibility, the NCAA has retained the ACT organization, which provides college entrance exams, to run the clearinghouse for determining a student's academic eligibility. A student's academic eligibility determines whether he is able to receive athletic scholarships and participate in NCAA sports.

Even though the scholarship money comes directly from the colleges, the NCAA and other national collegiate organizations (such as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics [NAIA]) determine whether a particular student is academically eligible to receive that money from the school. (The NAIA, comprised of over 300 member universities, operates similarly to the NCAA.)

Sports organizations