During its July meeting at the national office, the Division III Management Council approved a per diem increase for student-athletes participating in championships. That request will go to the Presidents Council for approval at its August meeting.
The Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee recommended an increase in per diem to $150 for traveling teams and $60 for hosts, effective for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years.
"Due to rising costs associated with championships participation and the controlled nature of the per diem increase, we approved incremental increases in per diem to provide immediate benefits to both institutions and student-athletes during their postseason experience," said Jason Verdugo, chair of the council and director of athletics at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The Management Council discussed several additional topics:
New playing rules structure
The council approved noncontroversial legislation establishing a new playing rules structure for Division III. The recommendation from the Championships Committee was based on the ongoing discussions within Division I to revise its governance structure, including its playing rules structure.Â
The Division III Championships Committee's recommendation is based on the principles that playing rules should continue being as consistent as possible among divisions but also provide a structure that allows Division III to continue being able to adopt playing rules that are philosophically aligned and financially feasible for its membership to implement. The new structure will include a playing rules oversight group and sport playing rules committees comprising equal representation from Division III and II schools and conferences. The legislation will become effective Sept. 1 if Division I adopts a new governance structure.
2026 NCAA Convention legislation
The council sponsored the following proposals for the 2026 Convention:
- Remove the exact dollar amounts and references to the value of awards from the award legislation.Â
- Permit an institution to provide actual and necessary expenses for student-athletes to participate in one collegiate all-star contest or similar posteligibility event.
- Clarify that an institution may provide reasonable entertainment during the playing season, which can include professional sports tickets.
- Require the use of the NCAA Transfer Portal. This proposal would not amend the current self-release process available to Division III student-athletes.
- Create two National Collegiate Championships for the sports of acrobatics and tumbling and stunt.
Mental health hardship waiver legislation
The council approved noncontroversial legislation incorporating the existing mental health hardship waiver pilot program criteria into Division III legislation.
The council noted that mental health conditions are not treated or documented in the same manner as physical illnesses, so the criteria that were implemented during the mental health pilot program are a more appropriate standard for demonstrating a student-athlete was unable to participate in athletics due to a mental health condition.
Council leadership
The council elected Rob Larson, faculty athletics representative at Luther, as the next chair, and Crystal Gibson, director of athletics at St. Mary's (Maryland), as the vice chair. They will assume their council leadership positions with the close of the 2026 NCAA Convention.
