NCAA Cabinet Approves Move to Age-Based Five-Year Eligibility Model; Final Vote Pending

The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved a sweeping change to athlete eligibility rules Tuesday, moving the division to an age-based five-year model that would allow some athletes to compete for five seasons in five years. The NCAA announced the vote in a release published June 23, but also said the changes are not final until the Cabinet meeting concludes Wednesday.

Under the new model, Division I student-athletes would receive up to five years of eligibility, with the clock starting at initial full-time college enrollment or at the start of the academic year after the student’s 19th birthday, whichever comes earlier. The overhaul would replace the current patchwork of season-of-competition limits, sport-specific eligibility rules, redshirt rules and eligibility-extension waivers with a single framework.

The transition would not happen all at once. The new rule would be mandatory for prospects who first enroll full time in fall 2027 or later. For students enrolling full time in fall 2026, and for current student-athletes who still have eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year, schools may apply either the old rules or the new age-based model, whichever is more favorable to the athlete. Athletes whose fourth season of collegiate eligibility was completed by spring 2026 would not receive additional eligibility.

The model includes limited exceptions that can pause or delay the five-year clock for pregnancy, active-duty military service and official religious missions. Those exceptions would be handled by the NCAA Eligibility Center, and only if the student-athlete does not participate in organized competition during that period.

For years, Division I has generally operated under a “four seasons in five years” structure, with redshirts — seasons in which an athlete does not compete and preserves a year of competition — and waiver requests creating exceptions. The new system would simplify that into one five-year window tied to age and enrollment, a change that could affect roster planning, recruiting and athlete careers across Division I. For some athletes who enroll immediately after high school, it could mean access to an additional season compared with the previous framework.

The NCAA said its Board of Directors directed the Cabinet on April 27 to advance an age-based concept, and the Cabinet refined it in May and early June before Tuesday’s vote. On June 5, the group adjusted the proposal so the clock would begin at enrollment or the academic year after age 19, whichever comes first, to account for sports and pathways such as men’s ice hockey, men’s basketball and service academies.

NCAA President Charlie Baker said the change is partly intended to make eligibility rules easier to understand and administer. “This change to an age-based model eliminates aspects of the rules that have proven difficult to administer in the current litigious environment and clearly defines the exceptions available in limited circumstances,” Baker said in the NCAA release.

Schools and athletes still using the old framework have a short deadline to act. Hardship or extension waiver requests tied to circumstances from the 2025-26 academic year or earlier must be submitted to the NCAA by July 31, 2026. After that, those waivers will no longer be available.