On May 22, 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.[1]

The proposed age-based model is outlined as follows:

  • 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 expected to graduate from high school in spring 2027: age-based model only.
  • Prospects expected to graduate 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 enrollment to play in the junior ice hockey leagues.[2] Traditionally, college hockey players first play 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.[3] Put simply, if the NCAA’s Division I Cabinet passes the age-based eligibility model as proposed, hockey players who go to the juniors would do so at the risk of immediately losing a year or two of eligibility.[4] Further, international players that do not start college until they are 21 or 22 would only have two or three years of eligibility remaining.[5]

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.[6]

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 it either upon college enrollment or the player’s nineteenth birthday, whichever comes first. Doing so would give players an extra year if they went to the juniors.[7]

One point worth noting in the context of this eligibility debate is that Boston College, in 2012, was the last school with a Power Four football team to win the NCAA men’s ice hockey national championship.

The Division I Cabinet will meet again in June to vote on the 5-in-5 proposal. There is widespread support within the Cabinet to approve this proposal as currently drafted.

[1] Meghan Durham Wright, Division I Cabinet continues discussions of age-based collegiate eligibility model, NCAA (May 22, 2026, 3:57 PM), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2026/4/27/media-center-di-board-of-directors-directs-cabinet-to-advance-age-based-eligibility-rules.aspx.

[2] 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.

[3] 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.

[4] Id.

[5] 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/.

[6] 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.

[7] 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