NCAA Division II Proposes Adopting Five-year, Age-Based Eligibility Model

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — NCAA Division II student-athletes could soon compete under the same age-based eligibility model recently adopted by Division I after the Division II Management Council recommended emergency legislation Tuesday.

If approved by the Division II Executive Board, the proposal would take effect for the 2026-27 academic year and replace the current eligibility system that allows student-athletes four seasons of competition within their first 10 semesters or 15 quarters of full-time enrollment.

Under the proposed rule, student-athletes would have a five-year eligibility period beginning with their initial full-time college enrollment or the start of the academic year immediately following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.

The proposal follows Division I's adoption of the same eligibility model in June.

The NCAA has faced increasing legal challenges over its eligibility rules since the Division I Council approved the age-based system on June 23.

Several lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts by student-athletes seeking additional eligibility. Many of the plaintiffs are athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 and exhausted their four seasons of eligibility during the 2025-26 academic year. They argue the NCAA's previous eligibility rules unfairly prevent them from receiving a fifth year of competition under the new model.

Earlier this month, an Ohio judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing 24 Division I men's and women's basketball players who challenged the NCAA's eligibility rules to compete during the 2026-27 season. The judge ruled the NCAA's eligibility rules had been applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

The NCAA has maintained that it does not plan to make exceptions outside of the court orders while litigation over the eligibility rules continues.

If adopted, the proposal would align Division II's eligibility structure with Division I beginning this academic year.