[Division I-A football only]

"20.9.6  Division I-A Football Requirements.  An institution classified in Division I-A shall meet the additional requirements listed below.

"20.9.6.1  Sports Sponsorship. The institution shall sponsor a minimum of:

"(a)  Seven 16 varsity intercollegiate sports, including football, based on the minimum sports-sponsorship and scheduling requirements of set forth in Bylaws 20.9.3 and 20.9.3.3 and, including a minimum of six sports involving all-male teams or mixed teams of males and females, and seven a minimum of eight varsity intercollegiate sports (of which a maximum of two emerging sports per Bylaw 20.02.5 may be utilized) based on the minimum sports-sponsorship and scheduling requirements of set forth in Bylaws 20.9.3 and 20.9.3.3 and involving all-female teams, subject to the waiver provision in Bylaw 20.9.3.1, or.

"(b)  Six varsity intercollegiate sports, including football, based on the minimum requirements of Bylaws 20.9.3 and 20.9.3.3 and involving all-male teams or mixed teams of males and females, and eight varsity intercollegiate sports (of which a maximum of two emerging sports per Bylaw 20.02.5 may be utilized) based on the minimum requirements of Bylaws 20.9.3 and 20.9.3.3 and involving all-female teams, subject to the waiver provisions of Bylaw 20.9.3.1.

"20.9.6.2  Football Scheduling Requirement. The institution shall schedule and play at least 60 percent of its football games against members of Division I-A and shall schedule and play at least five regular season home football games against members of Division I-A.  For purposes of satisfying the scheduling requirement, a contest shall be considered a home contest if it is played in the stadium in which an institution conducts at least 50 percent of its home contests.  In addition, an institution may use one home contest against a Division I-A member conducted a neutral site to satisfy the five home game requirement.

[Remainder of 20.9.6.2 unchanged.]

"20.9.6.3  Football-Attendance Requirements.  The institution shall meet one of the following attendance requirements:

"(a)  The institution annually shall have averaged more than 17,000 at least 15,000 in actual paid attendance per for all home football games in the immediate past four-year period; or.

"(b)  The stadium utilized regularly for the institution's home games during the football seasons being evaluated shall contain a minimum of 30,000 permanent seats. Further the institution shall have averaged more than 17,000 in paid attendance per home football game for games played in that stadium (or in a stadium approved by the members of the Management Council representing Division I-A conferences) at least one year during the immediate past four-year period.

"20.9.6.3.1  Waiver Provision for 30,000-Permanent-Seat Requirement.  When circumstances warrant, the members of the Management Council representing Division I-A conferences, by a two-thirds majority of its members present and voting, may approve a waiver of the 30,000-permanent-seat requirement for an institution that annually utilizes (for fewer than half of its home games in any given year) a stadium containing fewer than 30,000 permanent seats.

"20.9.6.3.2  Conference Exception to Home-Attendance Requirement.  An institution that fails to meet the home-attendance requirement may retain Division I-A football classification if it holds membership in a member conference (which conducts championship competition in the sport of football) in which at least six of the conference member institutions sponsor football and more than half of the football-playing conference member institutions meet the attendance criterion for the applicable period.

"20.9.6.3.3  Institutional Exception to Home-Attendance Requirement.  An institution that fails to meet the home-attendance requirement in 20.9.6.3-(a) or (b) may retain Division I-A football classification if it has averaged more than 20,000 in paid attendance for all of its games (at home and away) for the applicable period. Such an institution shall play at least four home games in any year in which it utilizes this provision.

"20.9.6.3.4  Waiver Provision for Permanent-Seats/Paid-Attendance Requirement.  The members of the Management Council representing Division I-A conferences, by a two-thirds majority of its members present and voting, may grant waivers of 20.9.6.3-9(b) in cases where circumstances exist that are beyond the control of the institution.

"20.9.6.3.51  Counting Attendance. For purposes of computing attendance figures, tickets must be sold at regularly established ticket prices and must be counted, whether or not they are used for admission. Tickets sold at discount prices may be counted as paid attendance only if they are used for admission.  Student attendance an individual may be counted as paid attendance if the student actually is in attendance and any one of the following conditions applies:

"(a)  The student paid an athletics fee;

"(b)  The student paid an institutional fee of which a certain portion was allocated to the department of intercollegiate athletics; or

"(c)  The student paid no athletics fee, but the institution allocated to the department of intercollegiate athletics a certain portion of tuition income or general operating funds as the equivalent of a student athletics fee.

"20.9.6.3.5.1  Student Attendance. Student attendance must be verified through one of the following methods:

"(a)  Such students Attendees are issued tickets that are collected upon admission to the game and retained;

"(b) Such students Attendees enter through and are counted by a turnstile (which is not utilized by others in attendance) that is monitored by a representative of the department of athletics who verifies in writing the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis; or

"(c) Such students Attendees enter through a gate (that is not utilized by others in attendance) at which a representative of the department of athletics counts them individually with a manual counter, and the representative provides a written statement verifying the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis.

"20.9.6.3.5.2  Noncounted Students. Student-athletes and cheerleaders scheduled by the institution to be at the game and students performing services at the stadium (e.g., concessionaires, ticket takers, parking-lot attendants, ushers, groundskeepers) shall not be counted toward meeting the attendance requirements.

"20.9.6.3.5.3  Utilizing Executive Boxes.  An institution that utilizes stadium executive boxes leased to box holders who design their own seating arrangements may utilize the actual number of season tickets included in the price of that box for contests in determining the institution's number of permanent seats, provided the number of tickets sold does not exceed occupancy limitations established by the applicable fire marshal's code.

"20.9.6.3.5.4  Counting Permanent Seats.  An institution may count permanent seats (as distinguished from standing-room areas) used for the press box, television, radio, film crew, media and coaches in meeting the facility's permanent-seat requirement; however, such seats may not be used in counting attendance in accordance with 20.9.6.3.5 if individuals utilizing such seats receive complimentary admissions to attend the institution's contest.

"20.9.6.3.5.5  Tickets Sold within the Institution.  Tickets sold by the institution to units within the institution may be counted toward the attendance requirement only if it is documented that the tickets were resold to the general public at full face value and that face value was at least 50 percent of the face value of the highest-priced ticket sold.

"20.9.6.3.5.6  Outside Sales Other Than Individuals/Booster Groups.  Tickets sold by the institution to outside groups other than the institution's booster organization (e.g., corporations) at full face value may be counted toward paid attendance regardless of whether they are utilized to attend the contests. This provision does not apply to sales to conferences or other collegiate institutions.

"20.9.6.3.5.7  Tickets Sold to Institution's Booster Group.  Tickets sold to an institution's booster organization at a regularly established price as set forth in Bylaw 20.9.6.3.5.8 may be counted toward the attendance requirement only if such tickets are used for admission.

"20.9.6.3.5.8  Minimum Price of Counted Tickets.  A "regularly established price" is a price that is (a) established prior to the season, (b) at least one-half of the face value of the highest-priced ticket sold and (c) printed on the face of the ticket.  Season tickets sold at a discount of not more than one-half of the highest-priced ticket sold shall qualify as tickets sold at regularly established prices.  Any ticket sold that does not meet these criteria is a ticket sold at a "discount price," in which case the ticket holder is required to attend the game in order to be counted.  Any ticket sold for less than one-third of the face value of the highest-priced ticket sold for the game may not be used in counting attendance for compliance with Bylaw 20.9.6.3.

"20.9.6.3.5.9  Exchange of Tickets with Opponent.  For an institution to meet the Division I-A attendance requirements, tickets for a football contest obtained by an institution through an exchange agreement or a purchase agreement with another institution shall not be used in counting paid attendance per Bylaw 20.9.6.3 and shall not be considered "tickets sold at regularly established prices," regardless of the amount paid by the institution, unless the tickets are resold at face value or utilized to attend the contest.

"20.9.6.3.5.10 2 Certified Audit.  In meeting the football-attendance requirements of Division I-A, an institution must undertake an annual certified audit verifying its football attendance. The audit must be conducted by an outside auditing firm.  The audited football paid-attendance figures must be received in the NCAA national office not later than the February 15 following the completion of the football season and NCAA national office staff shall verify compliance with all I-A attendance requirements.  The certified audit and materials (including the ticket manifest) must be available for inspection throughout each pertinent for a four-year period.

"20.9.6.3.6  Waiver of Criteria for Division I-A Membership.  If an institution does not meet the Division I-A criteria or the exception provisions, the institution may request a waiver of the criteria from the membership of Division I-A, as follows:

"(a)  The institution shall submit its request for a waiver to the Association's president, with the request to be signed by the institution's chief executive officer and received in the national office (by mail or wired transmission) not later than September 15. Any request received after that date shall be postmarked not later than September 8. The request shall include pertinent information supporting the institution's request. It shall be the institution's responsibility to distribute that information to the chief executive officer, faculty athletics representative and athletics director at each Division I-A member institution, as well as to the executive officer of each member conference of that subdivision, by December 1;

"(b)  The institution's chief executive officer, faculty athletics representative or athletics director shall appear before the members of the Board of Directors representing Division I-A conferences at the next NCAA Convention, under conditions prescribed by the Board;

"(c)  The membership of Division I-A, by a majority vote of the members present and voting will accept or reject the request for a waiver of the criteria;

"(d)  If the members of the Board of Directors representing Division I-A conferences vote to admit the institution to Division I-A classification, such classification shall become effective September 1 following the Convention. The Board shall specify the period for which the waiver is granted; and

"(e)  If the members of the Board of Directors representing Division I-A conferences vote to reject the institution's request, the institution's football program shall be placed in the division for which it qualifies or in the "restricted membership" category pursuant to the provisions of 20.3.5.1.

"20.9.6.4  Additional Financial Aid Requirements.  The institution shall satisfy the following additional financial aid requirements:

"(a)  Provide an average of at least 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of overall football grant-in-aids per year over a rolling two-year period; and

"(b)  Annually offer a minimum of 200 athletics grant-in-aids or expend at least four million dollars on grant-in-aids to student-athletes in athletics programs."