Division 1 Scholarship Changes
The big news this off-season was the NCAA change in scholarship allotment for Division I baseball. Previously, the maximum allowed for Division I was 11.7. (How did they get that number? If you give everyone on a roster of 35 a 1/3 scholarship, then, it comes out to 11.7 total for the team.)
Starting in the fall of 2025, each team will have a roster limit of 34 players. Each player will be allowed to have a full or partial scholarship, thus, the new scholarship maximum is 34.
This certainly does not mean every school will use this allotment. Division I scholarship totals range from 0 (the Ivy League follows this model), to the maximum.
Each institution will determine how they many they will offer.
The bigger question is about the roster limit. When will the roster limit be locked in? If a player gets injured for the year, will schools be allowed to replace him (like in MLB)? Will a non-roster practice squad be allowed? What are red-shirt players allowed to do?
While these questions remain unanswered still, the ramifications have already started taking place. By reducing the Covid-inspired roster limit of 40, Class of 2025 high school players who had been committed to colleges did not have a roster spot anymore, so there was a flood of decommitments in August. Those players will still have a home somewhere, yet there will be a trickle-down effect where bottom players on the lowest-level teams in college baseball will not have a home. Divisions and teams that don’t have roster limits could possibly just increase roster sizes, but regardless, the floor of college baseball skill certainly has improved with this change.
