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Elite 90 Academic Recognition Award Program

The ELITE 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.

Elite 90 All-Time Winners | Award Honoree Database

Selection criteria

  1. Student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and in his or her second year of competition at their current institution in any sport.
  2. Student-athlete is an active member on the roster, eligible for the championship, and a member of the designated squad size at the championship site in sports with squad size limitations. For team sports: If they are injured during the course of one of the NCAA tournament games, they must have played in more than 90 percent of the team’s regular season games. For individual/team sports, the student-athlete must be physically able to compete at the finals site.
  3. Credits completed shall only consist of those credits accumulated at the current institution and shall not include any transfer or AP credits.
  4. Only undergraduate GPA is applicable.  If the student-athlete has graduated from your institution and is in graduate school, he or she is still eligible for the award but consideration will be based strictly on an undergraduate GPA, so just include undergrad GPA and credits on the form. Graduate students must be in good academic standing with the university.
  5. Each student-athlete is only eligible to win the award once per academic year, even if he or she participates in more than one sport.
  6. Student-athletes that transfer after completing their undergraduate degree are not eligible to win the award.

Swimming and indoor and outdoor track relays and divers:

  1. Swimming relay teams: A student-athlete must have qualified for the championship on his or her own merits. A student-athlete is not eligible to win if he or she is a relay alternate.
  2. Track relay teams: A student-athlete must have been on the relay team that achieved the qualifying mark to be eligible to win the award.
  3. Divers must qualify for the national championship portion of the meet to be eligible to win the award.

Division I

Division II

Division III