Editor’s Note: This post was updated on June 9, 2026, to reflect the NCAA’s updated guidance issued on June 5, 2026, in response to recommendations from stakeholders in men’s ice hockey, men’s basketball, and the U.S. national service academies.
During its May meeting, the Division I Cabinet proposed and discussed an age-based eligibility model (i.e., the 5-in-5 proposal) that would give student-athletes five years of eligibility, beginning either the academic year after turning 19 or upon graduation from high school, whichever happens first.
This proposed age-based model, outlined below and explained by the NCAA, would apply to student-athletes and prospects with eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year:
- Student-athletes whose fourth season of collegiate eligibility was completed by spring 2026: no additional eligibility.
- Currently enrolled student-athletes with eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year: flexibility for schools to apply the age-based model or continue with the previous eligibility rules (four seasons to compete with five total years of eligibility), whichever is most beneficial to that individual.
- Prospects graduating from high school in spring 2027: age-based model only.
- Prospects who graduated from high school in spring 2026, regardless of planned enrollment date: age-based model only.
- Prospects who graduated prior to spring 2026 and have not enrolled: the NCAA Eligibility Center will review the prospect’s individual circumstances and apply the age-based model or existing delayed-enrollment eligibility rules, whichever is most beneficial to that individual.
Under the current model for student-athletes, men’s hockey players can defer their college .[1] Traditionally, many college hockey players spend time in the junior leagues after high school before enrolling in college. Participating in the junior leagues means that many hockey players do not begin playing at the collegiate level until they are around 20 years old.[2] Put simply, if the NCAA’s Division I Cabinet passes the age-based eligibility model as originally proposed and a function of the year of high school graduation, hockey players who play in the juniors after graduating high school would do so at the risk of immediately losing a year or two of college eligibility.[3] Further, international players that do not start college until they are 21 or 22 would only have two or three years of eligibility remaining.[4]
In response to the ongoing criticism regarding collegiate eligibility, the NCAA’s Division I Cabinet maintains that reforming the eligibility rule would provide student-athletes and schools with consistent standards that align with the collegiate student-athlete experience and would allow student-athletes to play for their entire eligibility period.[5]
The NHL, USA Hockey, College Hockey, Inc., the Canadian Hockey League, the USHL, the American Hockey Coaches’ Association, and the Hockey Commissioners Association issued a set of letters to the NCAA asking it to remove “upon graduation from high school” from the proposal, making the proposed five-year eligibility window commence upon the earlier of the player’s college enrollment or the player’s 19th birthday. Doing so would allow players to play in juniors before turning 19 without forfeiting any years of eligibility.[6]
In response to the feedback and criticism, the NCAA modified its age-based proposed model, starting a student-athlete’s eligibility clock “upon initial full-time enrollment in college or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs earlier.” In a statement released on June 5, the NCAA said the adjustment was based on recommendations from stakeholders in men’s ice hockey, men’s basketball, and the U.S. national service academies.[7]
While the above anticipated implementation process will continue to apply to student-athletes and prospects with eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year, the process will be updated to reflect these adjustments made by the Cabinet.
The Division I Cabinet will meet again June 23-24 to vote on the 5-in-5 proposal.
[1] Matt Wellens, Wellens column, Hockey can’t change NCAA age-based eligibility proposal alone, Duluth News Tribune (May 26, 2026, 2:18 PM), https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/bulldogs-hockey/wellens-column-hockey-cant-change-ncaa-age-based-eligibility-proposal-alone.
[2] Meredith Turits, Hockey Unites to Demand Change to NCAA ‘5-in-5’ Proposal, Yahoo Sports (May 22, 2026, 11:59 AM), https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/hockey-unites-demand-change-ncaa-155936764.html.
[3] Id.
[4] Alexander Ballard, What Does the NCAA’s Age-Based Eligibility Model Mean For Olympic Sports, SwimSwam (May 27, 2026), https://swimswam.com/what-does-the-ncaas-age-based-eligibility-model-mean-for-olympic-sports/.
[5] Meghan Durham Wright, D1 Board of Directors directs Cabinet to advance age-based eligibility rules, NCAA (April 27, 2026, 4:29 PM), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2026/4/27/media-center-di-board-of-directors-directs-cabinet-to-advance-age-based-eligibility-rules.aspx.
[6] Mike McMahon, NCAA rejects hockey’s age-based counterproposal, College Hockey Insider (May 27, 2026), https://www.collegehockeyinsider.com/p/ncaa-rejects-hockeys-age-based-counterproposal.
[7] Meghan Durham Wright, DI Cabinet modifies age-based eligibility concept, NCAA (June 5, 2026, 5:21 PM), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2026/6/5/media-center-di-cabinet-modifies-age-based-eligibility-concept.aspx.