Concurrent Enrollment

Bylaw: Article V, Section B, Item 21

โ€œTerm of Attendance: A term of attendance is any quarter, semester or trimester (excluding summer sessions) in which the student becomes identified at a single institution.

The word โ€œtermโ€ as used throughout the bylaws refers to quarter, semester or trimester, whichever applies as the official unit of class attendance at any college or university.

If a student identified with an institution officially totally withdraws from that institution within 21 calendar days following the official opening date of classes as stated in the institutional catalog and returns and again becomes identified with the same institution (without becoming identified at another institution), the student shall not be charged with a term of attendance for the term in which the student withdrew.โ€

Interpretation

A concurrent term is defined as: a single academic term where a student simultaneously and continuously identifies at two institution by either:

(A) enrolling in 9 or more credits at an NAIA member institution and at least 12 or more credits at another institution, or

(B) enrolling in 12 or more credits at a non-NAIA institution and 12 or more credits at a different non-NAIA institution.

Application

When a student has a concurrent term that meets the definition above, these additional rules will apply as follows:

Term(s) of attendance: Only 1 TOA will be charged during the relevant academic term

24/36-Hour Rule: Any hours earned during the academic term in question will be considered term hours (as opposed to non-term hours), regardless of which institution awards the credits. For example, student enrolls/earns 12 institutional credit hours at both School A and School B, and plays at School B. Student has been charged 1 TOA, has identified at School B, and has 24 term hours earned.

Determining School of Identification (may be relevant for term conversions, Progress Rule, GPA, etc.): The following tiered system shall be used to determine at which institution the student identified. This determines where the student accumulated the term of attendance and how to apply hours toward the 24/36-Hour Rule.

Identification occurs:

  1. Where the student participated in an intercollegiate contest;
  2. If no competition, then the student identifies with the NAIA institution;
  3. If neither institution holds membership in the NAIA, then the student identifies with the institution where the student enrolled in more hours;
  4. If the student enrolled in an equal number of hours at both institutions, the NAIA institution certifying the student may choose at which institution the student identified.

Example

You are evaluating a potential student-thleteโ€™s eligibility, and her enrollment history is as follows. School A and School B are both on a semester calendar.

TERM SCHOOL ATT EARN
Spring 2014 School A 15 11
Spring 2014 School B 12 8
Summer 2014 School B 3 3
Fall 2014 School B 17.5 0
Winter 2015 School B 9 9

Identification: Assuming the student has not competed, and neither institution holds NAIA membership, PSA is identified at School A for spring 2014 because that is where the student enrolled in more hours.

TOAs: PSA has two terms of attendance: Spring 2014 at School A (where she enrolled in more hours) and fall 2014 at School B.

24/36-Hour Rule: The student is required to earn 24 institutional credit hours over the two most recent terms of attendance. Most recent (Fall 2014) PSA earned 0 hours; second most recent (Spring 2014) PSA earned 19 hours; Non-terms (Summer 2014, Winter 2015) PSA earned the maximum of 12 non-term hours that can be used toward the 24/36-Hour Rule. Student satisfies the 24/36-Hour Rule with a total of 31 hours earned in that timeframe.

Most Recent Term Fall 2014 0
Second Most Recent Term Spring 2014 (11, School A/ 8, School B) 19
Non Term Summer 2015 (3), Winter 2015 (9) 12
Total 31

Related Bylaws

Article V, Section C, Item 6: 24/36-Hour Rule

Article V, Section B, Item 8: Identification

Related Interpretations

Accumulating Two TOA in One Academic Term

NEC Interp – Creation date October 2012. Current as of: January 2018