A prospective student athlete is allowed an unlimited amount of unofficial visits which can be taken at any time during the recruiting process.
An unofficial visit is when a prospective student-athlete pays their own way to visit a university. An unofficial visit may take place at any time during the recruiting process. Many recruits choose to tour colleges and meet coaches during their free time such as spring and summer vacations and bye-weeks... these would be examples of unofficial visits. Also, visiting a school for a game, and receiving complimentary recruting tickets would be considered an unofficial visit.
Unofficial visit limitations include:
Once a potential student athlete is registered with the NCAA clearinghouse, and has started their senior year of high school, they are allowed 5 official visits to 5 different schools.
An official visit provides for a 48 hour period to visit a campus and experience student life. A recruit is usually only brought in on an official visit when they have a scholarship offer to attend that university. The biggest difference between the official visit and the unofficial visit is that the university can pay for all of the recruit’s expenses on the trip and most of the recruit’s parents/guardians expenses on the trip. An official visit provides time with the players, coaches, and support staff in order to give the recruit a good feel for the academic, athletic, and social atmosphere of that university.
Official Visits can be taken once a potential student athlete has started his senior year of high school. The university you are visiting can pay for all expenses related to your official visits, including:
A university cannot pay for parents and/or legal guardians plane tickets to come on an official visit, but the university can pay for a parent and/or legal guardians':
The following people are not eligible to have any expenses on an official visit paid for.