NCAA Swim Recruiting Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll hear from coaches, financial aid offices, and the NCAA.
Cost of Attendance (COA)
Cost of Attendance is the school's official total annual cost: tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, transportation, and personal expenses. It is the …
Equivalency Sport
An equivalency sport is one where the NCAA scholarship limit can be split among any number of athletes. NCAA D1 men's swimming is an equivalency sport with 9.9 …
FAFSA Student Aid Index (SAI)
The Student Aid Index (SAI) is the FAFSA's estimate of how much your family can contribute to college costs. It replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) …
Headcount Sport
A headcount sport is one where each scholarship must be a full ride and counts as one against the team total. NCAA D1 women's swimming is a headcount sport with…
NCAA Eligibility Center
The NCAA Eligibility Center is the national clearinghouse that certifies high school athletes' academic credentials and amateur status before they can compete i…
Official Visit
An official visit is a campus visit paid for by the college: travel, lodging, meals, and event tickets. Each NCAA D1 swim recruit gets up to 5 official visits t…
Roster Spot
A roster spot is an officially-rostered place on a college swim team. NCAA D1 teams typically carry 25-30 swimmers per gender; D2 teams 18-25; D3 teams 20-30. W…
Swim Cuts (Time Standards)
Swim cuts are time standards that qualify a swimmer for a championship meet. Major cuts include Olympic Trials cuts, NCAA cuts (A and B), Futures, US Open, and …
Unofficial Visit
An unofficial visit is a campus visit paid for by the recruit and their family. There is no NCAA limit on unofficial visits — recruits can take as many as they …
Walk-On
A walk-on is a college swimmer who is not on athletic scholarship. There are three tiers: preferred walk-on (coach-recruited, guaranteed roster spot, no aid), r…