Mid-Year Certification

Article V, Section C, Item 14

A student who is eligible the last day of a term (as reported on the institution’s official academic calendar) may retain eligibility until midnight of the 30th calendar day following the close of a term to allow an institution time to recertify eligibility through the official Eligibility Certification Process. This regulation does not apply to students who complete all requirements for graduation or complete 10 semesters of attendance (or equivalent). Further, students who are discovered to be ineligible by the institution through the official Eligibility Certification Process or by conference standards shall lose eligibility immediately upon such discovery.

Article V, Section E, Item 3

A student who loses eligibility at the end of a term other than because of graduation or completion of 10 semesters/15 quarter terms of attendance becomes ineligible no later than midnight of the 30st calendar day following the close of the term. If an institution checks eligibility prior to the 30-day deadline (Article V, Section J, Item 2) and determines that a student has become ineligible, the student becomes ineligible immediately.

Article V, Section C, Item 13

…For all other terms during the regular academic year, a student enrolled in the second (or subsequent) term may compete between terms (beginning on the day following the close of the concluding term), provided the student meets all eligibility requirements for the upcoming term.

Importan FAQ’s

What does “close of term” mean?
- Per our bylaws, the “End of Term” is defined as “Date listed in the institutional catalog as the last day of a term. If no such date is given, the end of the term shall be the last day of the final exam period for that term“. Certification for the following academic term is required within 30 days of the end of the previous term.
How is a student “discovered to be ineligible” (per V.C.14) or what does “institution checks eligibility” (per V.E.3) actually mean?
- The official process to identify whether a student is eligible is by completing the eligibility certification process. A student is not considered officially (in)eligible until the process of certification and the evaluation of the previous term’s institutional credits/ grades are factored into ECP. A student may continue to compete after the fall term during the 30-day window until their official certification process is complete.

Students Establishing Eligibility Mid-Year

Students who were ineligible in the preceding term or transfer students who were not identified at your institution the previous term of attenance may be certified to play the day following the end of the fall term. These students are not required to wait 30 days for the recertification period nor are they required to wait until the first day of classes the following term in order to be certified to compete.

Students in this group will be required to be certified for the following term if the rest of the team (the continuing student-athletes who were eligible in the fall) utilize the 30-day recertification period. Meaning, students establishing eligibility mid-year will be required to be certified under the winter or spring certificate before they are eligible to compete. Note that this cannot occur until the day after the official last day of the fall term.