As one of its core values, the NCAA believes in and is committed to an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds. In further recognizing and acting upon this value, the NCAA is increasing efforts to provide opportunities to student-athletes with disabilities. 

Support and Accommodations

The NCAA is dedicated to inclusivity in collegiate athletics by offering support and accommodations for athletes with disabilities. Through tailored adjustments and specialized services, the NCAA ensures that all athletes have equitable opportunities to compete and succeed, promoting a diverse and inclusive sports environment.

Initial-eligibility accommodations

While all students must meet the same initial-eligibility standards, students with documented education-impacting disabilities may be provided certain accommodations to help meet those standards.

Some of the most common EIDs include:

• Learning disabilities or disorders.
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
• Mental health disorders.
• Medical conditions.
• Deaf or hard of hearing.
• Autism spectrum disorder.

Learn more here.

Accommodations for Disabled Student-Athletes 

The NCAA encourages participation by student-athletes with disabilities in intercollegiate athletics and physical activities to the full extent of their interests and abilities. An NCAA member school will have the right to seek, on behalf of any disabled student-athlete participating on the member’s team, a reasonable modification or accommodation of a playing rule, provided that the modification or accommodation would not: 

• Compromise the safety of, or increase the risk of injury to, any other student-athlete. 
• Change an essential element that would fundamentally alter the nature of the game. 
• Provide the student-athlete an unfair advantage over the other competitors. 

Mental Health

Mental health exists on a continuum, with resilience and thriving on one end of the spectrum and mental health disorders that disrupt a student-athlete’s functioning and performance at the other. The NCAA strives to improve access to quality mental health care with the goal of creating a culture where care seeking for mental health issues is as normative as care seeking for physical injuries. This includes researching student-athlete mental health concerns, and providing educational resources such as the NCAA’s Mental Health Best Practices. Additionally, the Student-Athlete Core Guarantees state that Division I schools must provide Mental Health counseling to their Student-Athletes.

USOPC/NCAA Para-College Inclusion Project 

The Para-College Inclusion Project launched in partnership between the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the NCAA office of inclusion in 2022. The purpose of the project is to engage NCAA schools to collectively increase Paralympic sport understanding, awareness and connection across the college landscape. The project includes programming efforts across the sports of wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and para track and field as well as the creation of a Para-College Sport Hub. The USOPC/NCAA Para-College Inclusion Project launched several initiatives, including: 

• Wheelchair basketball at the Women’s Final Four. 
• Wheelchair tennis at the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships.  
• Wheelchair racing at the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 
• Para-College Sports Hub

Resources

• Access and Accommodations for Student-Athletes with Disabilities
• Defining Disability
• Language Can Impact How Your Athletes Perform
• Medical Exceptions Procedures
• Mental Health Best Practices