NCAA Changes to Division II Athletic Eligibility Pushed to Future Date

Faculty Athletics Representative Liz Jorn and Athletic Director Signe Coombs traveled from Kirksville on Jan. 16 to the NCAA convention in National Harbor, Maryland, to discuss proposed new rules for the coming year with other Div. II member institutions. But surprisingly, the most controversial piece of legislation on the docket didn’t even make it to the voting floor. 

Div. II has operated according to a four-seasons-of-eligibility-within-five-academic-years model, with an included freshman redshirt waiver that allows first-year athletes to play in up to 30% of their team’s games without using a season of eligibility, since Aug. 1, 2025. The new legislation proposed at the convention would allow Div. II athletes to have five seasons of eligibility in five academic years. Simply put, five in five. Before the convention’s voting session, however, the Div. II management council submitted a motion for the rule to be sent back to the Div. II executive board for further review.

According to the NCAA’s Div. II Official Notice of Proposed Legislation, the rescinded legislation aims to eliminate the costly redshirt waiver process and to give Div. II athletes have more total time in college, so they can better balance their athletic and academic pursuits.   

 Coaches across the country vary in opinion about the legislation because of its potential favoritism of schools with larger postgraduate programs and the need for extensions of academic aid to meet the five years of athletic eligibility. Head Women’s Basketball Coach Theo Dean shares those concerns about the legislation.

“If you’re at a school that academic scholarships can last for 10 semesters versus eight, or you’re at a school that has a multitude of master’s programs, you’re in favor of it But if you’re in a position where even one of the two don’t exist, you probably don’t like the idea of five and five just from the simple fact of finances.” 

The University provides a limited selection of master’s programs, and its athletic scholarships only run for eight semesters. This would leave athletes searching for funding to make up for the loss of their academic scholarships in their fifth year. Jorn and other University athletics faculty are also concerned that the NCAA has not allowed the current 30% system to be implemented long enough to determine if it’s working as intended before making a decision.

“I personally don’t [think it’s been long enough] considering this is year one of it…We’re not quite sure how it’s worked for institutions elsewhere,” Jorn said. 

In its current terms, the legislation has the potential to make it more difficult for the University’s athletic programs to hold onto experienced athletes. But the NCAA will have more time to alter the legislation before the next possibility of its adoption in January 2027.