Overview
- The Division I Cabinet approved the age-based policy that gives athletes five seasons of competition within five years, with the clock starting at full-time enrollment or the academic year after an athlete turns 19.
- Schools and athletes face an immediate administrative timeline because the Cabinet set a July 31 deadline for schools to submit waiver requests under the old rules and allowed currently enrolled players with post‑2025‑26 eligibility to choose the model that helps them most.
- The change largely eliminates medical and discretionary extension waivers and ends traditional redshirt years, preserving exceptions only for military service, religious missions and maternity leave.
- Some current players gain extra seasons under the new model and coaches must rethink recruiting and development plans because the rule shortens or removes multi‑year exception paths for older or international players.
- The move responds to transfer, pandemic and NIL-era complexities but will face litigation that could test the rule’s durability, with cases like Diego Pavia’s lawsuit still pending.