The Elite 90 Award or more formally The Elite 90 Academic Recognition Award Program, originally the Elite 88 Award and later the Elite 89 Award, is an award by the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) recognizing the
student athlete
Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...
with the highest cumulative
grade-point average
Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...
who has reached the competition at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 men's and women's championships across its three divisions (
Division I,
Division II,
Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Third ...
).
With
women's wrestling becoming an official NCAA championship sport for the first time in 2025–26, initially with a single championship open to members of all three divisions, the award name will presumably change to Elite 91 at that time.
Students are eligible if they have achieved at least a
sophomore
In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...
in academic and athletic standing and if they are in at least the second year of competition (in any sport) at their current institution. A student in the first season of play at a new institution is eligible for the award if they sat out the previous season due to NCAA transfer rules while enrolled continuously at the current institution. The student athlete must be on the active roster, and in sports that have limits on squad size, they must be a member of the designated squad size at the championship site.
[ Grade point averages are determined using a straight grading scale to ensure consistency among institutions. Additionally, only credits earned at the student's current institution are counted towards determining GPA; transfer and AP credits are specifically excluded. Graduate students who still have athletic eligibility may receive the award, but only undergraduate GPAs are considered. In the event of a tie, completed credits are the official tiebreaker. In sports such as ]golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
and cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...
an individual who qualifies for the individual championship although their team is not competing will be eligible for the award. Multi-sport athletes are only allowed to win one award per academic year, even if they qualify for the award in more than one sport.[
The award was established as the Elite 88 Award during the 2009–10 academic year. It became the Elite 89 during the 2011–12 academic year with the creation of the ]NCAA Men's Division III Volleyball Championship
The NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament is the annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the main governing body for U.S. college sports United States, to determine the national champions of c ...
, and changed again to Elite 90 in 2015–16 with the establishment of the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship. The NCAA owns the trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
to the terms "Elite 89" and "Elite 90".
Two groups of NCAA student-athletes are not eligible for the Elite 90 Award:
* Participants in what the NCAA classifies as "emerging sports" for women, currently acrobatics
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most ...
& tumbling, equestrianism
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
, rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
, stunt, triathlon
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...
, and wrestling. These sports are recognized by the NCAA, but do not yet have fully sanctioned status. Beach volleyball had been an "emerging sport" before becoming a fully sanctioned championship sport in 2015–16. Wrestling will graduate to full championship status in 2025–26.
* Players in Division I FBS
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
football. The NCAA has never sponsored an official FBS national championship.
NCAA Elite 90 Eligible Sports
Notes
External links
Official web listing
{{Student athlete
Awards established in 2009
College sports trophies and awards in the United States
Student athlete awards in the United States
NCAA awards