Amid COVID-19's Pressures on Division I Athletics Programs, Let's Step Back to Ask 'What Types of Colleges can even be Division I Member Institutions?
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Amid COVID-19's Pressures on Division I Athletics Programs, Let's Step Back to Ask 'What Types of Colleges can even be Division I Member Institutions?'
COVID-19 Continues to Complicate Matters for a Complex Membership
NCAA defines “member institution” and “collegiate institution” for a variety of purposes including membership criteria and student-athlete eligibility
NCAA Division II is the only division that has an international member
The NCAA’s non-profit status was reaffirmed through policy change when a for-profit university entered the NCAA Division I membership pipeline a few years ago
An Athletics Consortium of schools can field a combined team under NCAA rules
Last week’s news of Stanford University cutting more than ten of its sports programs was one of several tremors recently felt across Division I as the uncertainties circling college sports mount. Stanford is the seemingly tenured Division I Directors Cup winner year after year for their on court/pool/field/track/course prowess across a myriad of sports---so many took notice of this announcement that one of the pillar programs in Division I athletics is far from immune. As Stanford’s legacy and history is unique on “the Farm”, that same uniqueness can be attributed to the 350+ other Division I institutions.
The Division I membership is a big tent encompassing institutions with significant categorical diversity in mission, enrollment, geography, public/private status, endowment coffers, and sport program sponsorship, among other data points. Let’s take a closer look at what Stanford and all other Division I colleges and universities must fundamentally present to be an NCAA Division I member institution.
Division I membership is available to four-year colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the regional accrediting agencies and are located in the United States, its territories or possessions, and athletics conferences. [A university seeking acceptance into the Division I membership must have an invitation from a Division I athletic conference.] Such institutions or organizations must accept and observe the principles set forth in the constitution and bylaws of the NCAA.
An active Division I member is a four-year college or university that is accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency and duly elected to active membership. Active members have the right to compete in NCAA championships, to vote on legislation and other issues before the Association, and to enjoy other privileges of membership designated in the constitution and bylaws of the Association.
The NCAA also regulates consortiums of institutions. Per NCAA rules, an athletics consortium consists of one member institution and neighboring member or nonmember institutions (but not more than one non-member institution), recognized and approved by a two-thirds vote of the Strategic Vision and Planning Committee. The student-athletes of the affiliated institutions are permitted to merge students from multiple schools on to one team to compete for one of the NCAA member institution's athletics teams, provided they meet the eligibility requirements of the NCAA and the member institution. In other words, two or more schools’ students may team up to compete for the same NCAA team. Although athletics consortiums can be more prevalent at the Division III level where enrollments are generally smaller than Division I, one of the Ivy League institutions is part of an athletics consortium, as one example.
For context, Division II has a similar definition as Division I of what constitutes their divisional membership requirements. However, one restriction that Division I’s membership criteria has that is not present in the Division II definition relates to geography. Division II is the only NCAA division that has gone truly international when in 2012 it admitted Simon Fraser University from British Columbia, Canada, to its active membership roll. The NCAA had opened the door to potential international membership in the late 2000s following the creation of a 10-year pilot program. Division II’s active membership definition expanded in 2018 beyond Canada and keeps the possibility of a NAFTA-like college sports division with the addition of Mexico to their membership definition: “[Division II] membership is available to colleges, universities and athletics conferences; that have acceptable academic standards and that are located in Canada, Mexico and the United States, its territories or possessions. Such institutions or organizations must accept and observe the principles set forth in the constitution and bylaws of the Association.”
From time to time, the status of a university surfacing on the NCAA membership radar can bring in to focus broader policy issues such as the NCAA’s tax-exempt status as a non-profit entity.
In 2014, the NCAA Executive Committee (now Board of Governors) directed the three divisions to consider the adoption of legislation to address the recommendations developed by the Executive Committee Subcommittee on For-Profit Institutions. At that time, no members of Division I were for-profit institutions and none were in the reclassification process. The proposed changes helped reinforce the NCAA's non-profit, supporting organization tax status by differentiating current, for-profit institutions from NCAA nonprofit institutions. This legislation was consistent with what currently applies in Divisions II and III and will provide a pathway to allow for-profit institutions to participate as members of Division I in a manner that complies with the NCAA's nonprofit status.
Then in April 2017, the NCAA adopted legislation that narrowed the viability of a for-profit institution as a potential NCAA member, noting that one such institution, Grand Canyon University (GCU), was in the reclassification process to become an NCAA Division I member. Specifically, the NCAA decided that privileges of active membership for for-profit institutions shall be restricted, as follows:
A for-profit institution shall not have voting privileges at the annual NCAA Convention or any special Convention;
A representative of a for-profit institution shall not be permitted to serve as a voting institutional representative on an NCAA committee; and
A for-profit institution shall not receive NCAA grants or financial distributions directly from the NCAA.
Subsequent to this policy decision by the NCAA, GCU transitioned itself to non-profit status which afforded it access to full NCAA membership benefits and governance access. The transition has not been without potholes and hand-wringing, including a notice GCU received from the Department of Education indicating GCU would not qualify for Title IV funding (e.g., Pell Grant; SEOG) due to, what the Department of Education continued to perceive as, its for-profit status.
Defining what constitutes a college or university for purposes of active NCAA membership is not the only way in which the NCAA attempts to define a university or college for purposes of its rule book.
The NCAA defines a ‘collegiate institution’ in a slightly broader way for purposes of its eligibility rules and student-athlete enrollment history. In the Bylaw 14 eligibility section of the Division I Manual, the NCAA defines a “collegiate institution” as an institution of higher education that:
Is accredited at the college level by an agency or association recognized by the secretary of the Department of Education and legally authorized to offer at least a one-year program of study creditable toward a degree;
Conducts an intercollegiate athletics program, even though the institution is not accredited at the college level and authorized to offer at least a one-year program of study creditable toward a degree; or
Is located in a foreign country.
This particular definition speaks more to how a student-athlete’s enrollment history impacts his or her competition eligibility certification coming into a Division I institution than it has to do with universities being a Division I member.
The eligibility version of the term ‘collegiate institution’ determines whether an incoming student-athlete must meet NCAA transferable degree credit requirements because he or she is a college transfer from a two or four-year degree granting institution or, conversely, if the student-athlete’s previous school was merely a prep school and, in turn, that individual enters the Division I institution as a college freshman.
Once a student-athlete enrolls in any collegiate institution (e.g., two-year college; foreign institution, NAIA institution) per the NCAA definition, his or her Division I five-year “eligibility clock” begins to tick. For example, if a student-athlete spends her first two years of college as a full-time student at an NAIA institution and then transfers to a NCAA Division I institution, that student-athlete only has a three-year window remaining on her eligibility clock to compete in Division I sports.
What the NCAA considers a collegiate institution for eligibility purposes has not been historically static either. In 2002, the NCAA had to update its collegiate institution definition in Bylaw 14 because it had become outdated in comparison to how the Department of Education (DOE) defined a collegiate institution. The terminology used in the NCAA manual at the time was based upon a classification system that the DOE no longer uses. Prior to this change in 2002, the NCAA rules used the term post-secondary “non-recognized college” and listed technical schools and seminaries as examples of non-recognized colleges for purposes of student-athlete eligibility.
The adopted revision in 2002 preserved the original intent of the legislation to provide continuity and high standards for the definition of a collegiate institution and assisted member institutions in the application of the five-year eligibility rule while better aligning with the DOE’s current definition.
Circling back to what constitutes a Division I member institution, whether a once for-profit, now non-profit state institution in Arizona or a private research institution in northern California founded in 1885 or a myriad of other public and private institutions with an array of missions and enrollment sizes across the 50 states---the Division I membership is simultaneously a diverse pool and a complex alliance.
Higher education and college athletics will continue to evolve in the 2020s as we have seen in recent months---increased virtual instruction and on-line degree program offerings, universities merging or closing altogether, and Division I sport programs being cut.
And with COVID-19 steadfastly shaking the moorings of Division I athletics programs for the foreseeable future, it’s timely to understand what core pieces the NCAA requires for a ‘member institution’ to belong under the big Division I tent or what constitutes a ‘collegiate institution’ for student-athlete eligibility purposes. These two terms will inevitably evolve and be redefined in years to come including for reasons tied to COVID-19.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
