NCAA tweaks proposed 5-for-5 eligibility model. Here's what's new

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the NCAA Division I Cabinet's unanimous vote to approve the age-based eligibility model.

The NCAA is adopting its age-based eligibility model.

The NCAA announced on Tuesday, June 23 that its Division I Cabinet unanimously approved adopting the five-year eligibility model for student-athletes. It comes after the NCAA announced an alteration to its original eligibility model on Friday, June 5, where the alteration was a athlete’s five-year eligibility clock would start upon full-time enrollment at a university or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.

The rule is applicable for all sports and was voted on at the NCAA's meeting this week, which concludes tomorrow. It won't be finalized until the conclusion of tomorrow's meetings, according to the NCAA's post on X (formerly Twitter).

This spring, the NCAA’s Division I Cabinet announced a possible new eligibility framework that would allow athletes to compete in a sport for up to five years during a five-year window. Under that proposed model, an athlete’s eligibility clock would begin at whatever came first between the academic year following their high school graduation or their 19th birthday.

The modifications revealed earlier in June came after input and recommendations from figures in men's ice hockey, men's basketball and service academies. The NHL and NHL Players’ Association revealed they had raised concerns with the NCAA over its potential new eligibility system because college hockey players, who commonly compete at the junior level or at prep school, are often older than athletes in other sports when they enroll at a university.

The interest in amending eligibility rules came amid a flurry of eligibility-related lawsuits against the NCAA.

The proposed five-year eligibility clock would not come with waivers to extend an athlete’s eligibility outside of specific, life-altering circumstances like a pregnancy, official religious missions and active-duty military service.