Biola University Athletics

A student-athlete must be a full-time student to participate (practice or compete). The only exception — for both competition and practice — is for graduating students who don't need 12 units to finish their final semester. They must have notification on file with the Athletics Department prior to that term. This is verified by the Office of the Registrar prior to academic certification.

For graduate students, full-time enrollment is typically nine or more credits. Programs can vary, so for confirmation please connect with the Compliance Office.

Good Academic Standing

Students must be in "good academic standing" with the University to be eligible to compete. The University defines this as being eligible for continued enrollment. Academic standing is separate from Academic Status. Students on academic probation are not eligible to compete. This rule applies to both undergraduate and graduate students.

An undergraduate student-athlete must maintain a 2.00 cumulative GPA each semester under PacWest Conference and Biola University rules. GPA is based on the Biola University GPA used for graduation.

GPA is evaluated at the end of each semester. Students below 2.00 may continue to practice as long as they are enrolled full-time, but are not eligible to compete.

Students must declare a major by the start of their fifth full-time semester to remain eligible. If you plan on switching majors, consult with the Compliance Office and Registrar first — it may impact your eligibility.

At the start of each academic year (fall semester), continuing eligibility is determined by whether the student successfully completed at least 24 semester units since the start of the previous year. Summer school units may count toward this total.

If you are not on track to pass at least 24 units during the academic year, contact the Compliance Office to discuss potential alternatives.

Student-athletes must pass at least nine units each regular semester to remain eligible to compete the following semester.

Summer school cannot be used to meet the 9-unit semester requirement.

What Counts Toward the 9 & 24-Unit Requirements?

Acceptable vs. Non-Acceptable Grades

Once you have reached your fifth full-time semester, if you receive a "D" in a course where the minimum acceptable grade for your degree program is a C–, you will not receive units toward your eligibility requirements for that course.

If the course is later repeated and an acceptable grade earned, those units will be applied to your eligibility requirements at that time. You only earn eligibility units for a course once, when an acceptable grade is earned.

Special Considerations

• If a student has not met the 24-unit requirement at the start of fall semester, his/her record can be re-evaluated at the end of the term to see if 24 units were earned during the previous two semesters.
• Junior Year Exception: If a student entering their 5th full-time term did not earn 24 degree-applicable units during sophomore year, the overall record can be evaluated. If the student earned at least 48 degree-applicable units during the first two years, they will be considered to have met the 24-unit requirement.
• AP credit may not be used to meet the minimum unit requirements at Biola University.
• Correspondence, extension, and credit-by-exam courses taken from a school other than Biola can only be used in determining academic standing or satisfactory progress if accepted by Biola University.
• Units for a course that may be taken several times (e.g., independent study, research) are limited by institutional regulations.
• Units earned at another institution before initial full-time enrollment at Biola may not be used to satisfy minimum academic progress requirements. However, a student-athlete's total academic record after initial full-time enrollment at Biola, including the record at other institutions later attended, can be considered in evaluating eligibility.