17.02 Definitions and Applications.

[17.02.1 through 17.02.7 unchanged.]

17.02.8 Designated Student-Athlete. A designated student-athlete is an individual who a member institution attests was or would have been removed from the institution’s 2025-26 roster due to the implementation of the roster limits specified in Bylaw 17.2 and was either:

(a) Certified as eligible for practice or competition by the institution or otherwise placed on the institution’s squad list form for the 2024-25 academic year, prior to April 7, 2025; or

(b) Recruited prior to April 7, 2025, to be, or was assured by an institutional staff member the individual would be, on the institution’s roster for the 2025-26 academic year.

17.02.9 Designated Student-Athlete List. By July 6, 2025, a member institution shall report in good faith a list of its designated student-athletes, as defined in Bylaw 17.02.8, to the designated software system of record. A copy of the Designated Student-Athlete List shall also be kept on file at the member institution.

[17.02.8 through 17.02.20 renumbered as 17.02.10 through 17.02.22, unchanged.]

17.2.1 Roster Submission Deadline. An institution must submit its roster for each sport in the designated software system of record no later than the calendar day before the first contest or date of competition in the sport that is used for championship selections or December 1, whichever is earlier.

17.2.1.1 Roster Changes. Once an institution submits its roster, it may add student-athletes to the roster only if the institution has not reached the roster limit before the addition. Changes to a sport’s roster following the roster submission date must be identified in the designated software system of record before the sport’s next contest.

17.2.2 Roster Limit Inclusion. Beginning the day after an institution’s deadline for roster submission, an individual must be on the sport’s submitted roster to participate in athletically related activities (countable, required, or voluntary) for the remainder of academic year or the end of the sport’s playing season, whichever is later (see Bylaw 17.2.4). A multiple sport student-athlete must be included on the submitted roster for each sport in which the student-athlete participates in athletically related activities.  An institution must indicate a designated student-athlete who is exempted from a sport’s roster limit (see Bylaw 17.2.2.2) on the sport’s submitted roster.

17.2.2.1 Institutional Staff Member Activities With Student-Athletes.  Following the deadline to submit a sport’s roster an institutional staff member (e.g., coach, noncoaching staff member, manager, graduate assistant, strength and conditioning coach) may only be involved in athletically related activities (e.g., practice, skill instruction, strength and conditioning, film review) with an individual on the institution’s sport roster.

17.2.2.2 Exception -- Designated Student-Athlete. A designated student-athlete (see Bylaw 17.02.8) included on a sport’s submitted roster may continue to participate in athletically related activities after the roster submission deadline without counting toward the sport’s roster limitation, provided the student-athlete has athletics eligibility remaining.

17.2.2.3 Exception -- Season Ending Injury or Illness Before Roster Submission Date. A student-athlete who sustains a medically documented season-ending injury or illness before the sport’s roster submission date may continue to use institutional facilities and resources for rehabilitation purposes and may participate in practice activities, when medically cleared, during the academic year without counting in the sport’s roster limit. The student-athlete may not participate in competition that is considered in individual or team selections for postseason opportunities and may not participate in postseason competition.

17.2.2.4 Exception -- Medical Disqualification. A student-athlete who is included on a roster and sustains a medically documented incapacitating injury or illness that results in the student-athlete’s inability to compete ever again may be exempted from the roster limit beginning with the roster year following the incapacitating injury or illness (e.g., football student-athlete sustains incapacitating injury during fall 2025 season may be exempted from the 2026-27 football roster). The student-athlete may continue to receive benefits from the institution. Such a student-athlete may not participate in athletically related activities (countable, required, or voluntary).

17.2.2.5 Exception – Previous Recipient of Athletically Related Financial Aid. A student-athlete who was included on a squad list and received athletically related financial aid before the 2025-26 academic year, and whose aid is renewed for the 2025-26 academic year and/or subsequent academic years is not required to be included on the sport’s submitted roster, provided the individual does not participate in athletically related activities (countable, required or voluntary) after the roster submission deadline, unless the individual is a designated student-athlete (see Bylaw 17.02.8).

17.2.2.6 Exception -- Student Manager. A student manager (see Bylaw 11.02.5) may participate in limited on-court or on-field activities (e.g., assist with drills, throw batting practice) without being included on the sport’s submitted roster.

17.2.2.7 Exception -- Noncoaching Staff Member With Sport-Specific Responsibilities in Sports Other Than Men’s Basketball and Institutional Staff Members in Football. In sports other than men’s basketball, a noncoaching staff member with sport-specific responsibilities may participate in limited on-court or on-field activities (e.g., assist with drills, throw batting practice), and an institutional staff member in football may provide technical and tactical instruction to student-athletes without being included on the sport’s submitted roster; however, such an individual forfeits any remaining eligibility in the sport at the institution where the individual serves as a noncoaching staff member with sport-specific responsibilities in sports other than men's basketball or an institutional staff member in football.

17.2.2.8 Exception -- Male Student Who Practices With a Women’s Team. A male student who is eligible to practice with a women’s team pursuant to Bylaw 12.5.5 may participate in team practices without being included on the sport’s submitted roster; however, the male student forfeits any remaining eligibility in the corresponding men’s sport at the institution where the student participates in practice with a women’s team (e.g., men’s basketball for male student who practices with women’s basketball team).

17.2.2.9 Exception -- Former Student Participating in Practice on an Occasional Basis. In sports other than football, a former student-athlete may participate in organized practice sessions on an occasional basis (see Bylaw 14.2.1.7) without being included on the sport’s submitted roster.

17.2.2.10 Exception -- Student Participating in Team Practice via USOPC/National Governing Body. A current student-athlete or former student-athlete may participate in organized practice sessions pursuant to Bylaw 14.2.1.8 without being included on the sport’s submitted roster.

17.2.3 Roster Limit Exclusion. A student-athlete who is not included in a sport’s submitted roster shall not participate in athletically related activities (countable, required, or voluntary) after the roster submission deadline. Such a student-athlete may receive the same access to institutional facilities and benefits as a member of the institution’s student body or a member of the general public (e.g., no special access to athletics facilities).

17.2.3.1 Institutional Staff Member Activities with Student-Athletes. An athletics staff member may not be involved in conducting or arranging outside skill instruction, technical or tactical instruction, or strength and conditioning activity for an individual with remaining eligibility who is not on a sport’s roster. An individual with remaining eligibility who is not on a sport’s submitted roster may access an institution’s athletics facilities where athletics activities occur (e.g., practice, strength and conditioning, competition) only in the same manner available to the student body or general public.

17.2.3.2 Exception -- Nonathletics Activities with Institutional Staff Member. An institutional staff member with athletics department responsibilities (e.g., athletic trainer, academic advisor, mental health counselor) may continue to provide support to an individual who participated in athletically related activities but is not on a sport’s submitted roster, consistent with the staff member’s responsibilities.

17.2.4 Roster Limit Expiration. Once a roster is submitted, the sport must comply with the roster limit through the end of the academic year or the end of the sport’s playing season, whichever is later.

17.2.5 Roster Limit Replacements. A student-athlete included on a submitted roster may be replaced after the roster submission deadline only in the following circumstances:

(a) Injury Between Submission Date and First Contest. A student-athlete who sustains a medically documented season-ending injury after the required roster submission date but before the first contest used for championship selections may be replaced.

(b) Midyear Withdrawal – Fall Sports. In fall sports, a student-athlete who was on a submitted roster and withdraws from the institution for any reason (e.g., transfer, professional draft) between regular academic terms may be replaced on the roster. A student-athlete who withdraws from the team but remains enrolled at the institution may not be replaced.

(c) Football Midyear Replacement – Competition in Subsequent Academic Term. In football, a student-athlete who will be replaced at midyear may continue to practice and compete during the second term of the academic year (e.g., College Football Playoff, bowl game, NCAA championship) through the end of the playing season. A replacement student-athlete may not participate in team athletically related activities or receive competition-related travel expenses until after the end of the sport’s playing season.

(d) Midyear Withdrawal – Winter and Spring Sports. In winter and spring sports, a student-athlete who withdraws from the institution may not be replaced.

(e) Exhausted Eligibility – Between Terms. A student-athlete who exhausts athletics eligibility in a sport at the end of a term or between terms may be replaced. The replaced student-athlete may continue to receive benefits from the institution but may not participate in athletically related activities (countable, required or voluntary).

(f) Permanent Ineligibility. A student-athlete who is rendered permanently ineligible due to a violation of NCAA regulations may be replaced.

(g) Professional Draft Entry. A student-athlete who enters a professional draft while enrolled full time at the institution may be replaced. If an institution replaces such a student-athlete, the student-athlete may receive benefits consistent with Bylaw 17.2.3.2, use athletics facilities and participate in athletically related activities with institutional staff members on an individual basis.

17.2.6 Squad List Form.

17.2.6.1 Eligibility Requirement. To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete shall be included on the institution's squad-list form. [D]

17.2.6.2 Squad-List Form. The institution shall compile a list of the squad members in each sport on the first day of competition and shall indicate thereon the status of each member in the categories listed (see Bylaw 12.8.2). [D]

17.2.6.2.1 Procedures. The following procedures shall be used for the squad list: [D]

(a) The form shall be available for examination upon request by an authorized representative of another member institution, the NCAA, and, if the institution is a member of a conference, an authorized representative of the conference;

(b) A supplementary form may be filed to add names of persons not initially on the squad or to indicate a change of status;

(c) A student-athlete's name must be on the official institutional form to qualify to represent the institution in intercollegiate athletics; and

(d) The athletics director (or designee, who may not be a coaching staff member) shall sign the form for each sport. The head coach in each sport shall sign the form for the applicable sport.

17.2.6.3 Drug Testing Consent-Form Requirement. A student-athlete who signs a drug-testing consent form must be included on the institution's squad-list form, and a student-athlete who is included on the squad-list form must have signed a drug-testing consent form pursuant to Bylaw 12.5.3. [D]

17.2.6.3.1 Exception -- 14-Day Grace Period. An institution is not required to place a student-athlete who is trying out for a team on the squad-list form for 14 days from the first date the student engages in countable athletically related activities or until the institution's first competition, whichever occurs earlier.  For an institution that is subject to the roster limitations in Bylaw 17.2, an individual who participates in a tryout after the roster submission deadline must be added to the sport’s submitted roster per Bylaw 17.2.1.1.
[D]