The NCAA Division II Executive Board on Wednesday adopted emergency legislation to implement the 5-for-5 eligibility model, mirroring that of Division I.
Beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, student-athletes will have five years to play five seasons, beginning with their enrollment at an institution of higher learning, including junior colleges, or their 19th birthday -- whichever comes first. Like in Division I, where it is currently being battled in court, the 5-for-5 model does not apply retroactively. Anyone who ran out of eligibility following the 2025-26 academic year is still ineligible today.
“As Division II has continued to determine a path forward for a Division II eligibility model, it has been clear that any rule change should apply going forward, and not retroactively to student-athletes whose eligibility has been completed prior to the adoption of the change,” the Division II Executive Board and Management Council said in a joint statement. “Student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility by 2025-26 have received the full period of eligibility permitted by NCAA bylaws and the life-changing benefits college sports provides. Giving student-athletes another season would disrupt expected roster spots and playing time ahead of the upcoming seasons and alter financial aid packages for countless student-athletes, including incoming freshmen who are beginning (or have begun) their college athletics experience.”
Exceptions will be made for pregnancy, military service, and religious missions, and athletes who turned 19 before they enrolled in college and before this ruling was passed will have their cases evaluated by the NCAA Eligibility Center.
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