The NCAA is reportedly exploring a significant change to its eligibility rule, per Yahoo Sports‘ Ross Dellenger. The new rule would create an age-based standard.
Athletes would now have five years of eligibility once they turn 19 years old or after their high school graduation. There would be no redshirt or waivers in that case.
As Dellenger points out, there are very few exceptions that will be permitted under that new rule. Those include maternity leave, military service, or religious missions.
“Members of the NCAA Division I Cabinet are set to review the proposal at their meeting next week,” Dellenger wrote. “While a timeline for approval remains unclear — it is likely weeks or months away — the legislation is considered an urgent matter with potential for implementation as soon as this coming academic year (fall 2026).
“Any implementation is expected to be phased in as is the case with most new NCAA policy. For instance, leaders will take strides to avoid adversely impacting any current athlete’s long-term eligibility under existing rules. What’s unclear is if those players completing or having completed their final, fourth season of eligibility will regain a fifth season if they fall within the new policy’s five-year window.”
This aligns with the recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The order encompasses transfer movement, player eligibility, funding requirements for women and Olympic sports and reins in NIL collectives.
The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for “no more than a five-year period.” The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1.
Executive orders can be legally challenged. Courts have struck down several of Trump’s orders in recent months. Trump previously predicted that the order would be challenged in the courts. A key sticking point will be whether the president has legal authority over NCAA eligibility rules.
But if the NCAA explores this new rule, it’s virtually similar to what was proposed by President Trump. The release of the executive order comes a month after Trump gathered college sports leaders at the White House for a roundtable. The group discussed pushing forward the SCORE Act and similar Congressional legislation, but the president was emphatic that an executive order would also be drafted.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the executive order is “a significant step forward, and we appreciate the Administration’s interest and attention to these issues.” How this unfolds moving forward still remains to be seen.
As it stands now, athletes have five years to complete four years of varsity action in their respective sport. That includes a redshirt year, which, for example, in football allows you to play up to four games in a year while preserving that year to redshirt.
Another sport, like NCAA wrestling, also allows a true freshman to compete in five separate dates of varsity action but keep that year of eligibility. The issue for many regarding eligibility is the retroactive allowance of medical redshirts years after a year has been completed. Couple that with the transfer portal, and many sports showcase sixth and even seventh-year seniors.
How the NCAA will propose this new five-year rule remains to be seen. But it could be the concrete fix college sports need in terms of balancing out eligibility for athletes.
