NCAA D-I Council Adopts New Requirements for Division Reclassification

Schools in Divisions II and III must meet additional criteria to reclassify to Division I, the Division I Council decided Wednesday.   

The council adopted a proposal that requires schools moving into Division I to meet objective measures that focus on the student-athlete experience and support a school's successful transition to Division I.  

Conferences inviting Division II and III schools to join Division I must confirm the school meets academic requirements, including being above the 10th percentile of Division I members in the Academic Progress Rate, Graduation Success Rate, or the difference between the federal graduation rates for student-athletes and for the general student body.   

Reclassifying schools also must participate in an academic review, satisfy all Division I core guarantees and attestation requirements, complete an NCAA self-study program and meet new financial aid requirements, such as a scholarship offering that exceeds the 10th percentile of active Division I members.  

The change reduces the reclassification period to three years for Division II schools and four years for Division III schools. Members currently in the reclassification process can use the new timeline if they meet all other criteria. Progression through the process is dependent upon meeting each year's benchmarks.  

The council also:  

• Adopted legislation to restructure the four existing diversity, equity and inclusion committees into a single, all-encompassing committee. It did so at the direction of the Board of Governors.
• Eliminated the sport committee requirements that geographic regions be represented within the committee to address the impact that conference realignment and other composition requirements have had on limiting the potential pool of nominations.
• Clarified the single-sport conference application and membership process to limit single-sport conferences to one sport and one gender. An entity may operate multiple single-sport conferences, but each new sport added under the entity's umbrella would be considered a new single-sport conference for the purpose of NCAA rules. The conference must be active for two years before it is eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAA-sponsored championship.
• Adopted legislation that limits the number of men's basketball coaches who can be recruiting off campus on any given day to four. The change ensures that two coaches remain on campus and available to student-athletes.