NCAA ratifies new age-based eligibility rules for Division I

The NCAA Division I cabinet unanimously ratified a new age-based model of eligibility for Division I college athletics starting in the 2026-2027 academic year on June 24. The new rules will not affect Division II or Division III athletes. 

Student-athletes will now have five years to play five seasons. According to the statement, an athlete’s eligibility clock will begin “no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday. The new rule streamlines a significant portion of the Division I rule book by eliminating season-of-competition limits, sport-specific eligibility and redshirt rules, and eligibility extension waivers.”

Any student-athletes that “enroll full-time at any college or university in fall 2027 or later” will have the age-based model only. Current student-athletes and incoming freshman enrolling during 2026-27 will follow whichever rule set is most beneficial to the student-athlete. Any student athlete that used their last year of eligibility in 2025-26 will not be granted an extra year of eligibility.

These new rules come as the original eligibility model has come under heavy scrutiny over the past several years by manipulating the courts and waiver system, allowing for athletes to play into eight, or even nine, years of eligibility.

The redshirt system will also be eliminated, allowing for a streamlined process of eligibility throughout a student’s enrollment.

The NCAA said that these waivers will no longer be available for student-athletes after July 31, and that any previous waivers must be resubmitted to its national office. The only exceptions that the NCAA will accept moving forward will be for “pregnancy, active-duty military service and official religious missions.”