Approved Ruling: When an institution has scheduled an intercollegiate contest prior to the opening of school in the fall, a student shall be allowed to represent the institution although the student is not officially identified at the time of participation. The NAIA Official Eligibility Certificate must be filed with the eligibility chair with the column requesting “Institutional Credit Hours Enrolled in this Term” showing at least 12 institutional credit hours enrolled. Should a student compete and then not enroll in the term in which competition occurs a term of attendance shall be charged as a result of the identification through competition.
Pre-Enrollment Participation and Transfer
Case: A student participates in a football game played before the fall term officially starts. May the student then transfer to another institution and be eligible immediately? Will the student be charged with a season of competition or a term of attendance?
Approved Ruling: The student would not be eligible immediately. Since a student becomes identified with an institution upon participation in an intercollegiate contest, this student would have used one season of competition for football and be charged a term of attendance. In addition to applying the transfer residency requirements, this student would be required to meet the normal Progress Rule for a second, third or fourth season of competition, as applicable.
