UPA College Eligibility FAQ
Introduction: The purpose of this document is to answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding eligibility to participate in the UPA College Series (henceforth referred to as ‘Eligibility’). The information contained in this document should not be considered binding in any way; it only exists to explain the most standard rulings delivered by the Eligibility Committee. Before reading this bulletin, please read the College Eligibility Rules and ensure that your question is not simply answered there. If, after reading the rules and this bulletin, your case is not clearly answered but you still feel that you are eligible, you should file a Request for Eligibility Clarification.
Format: This document will examine several of the most common questions regarding eligibility that the Committee sees. Section 1 will list the most common questions the Committee sees, as well as the way cases such as these are ruled on by the Committee. Section 2 will examine the rules which apply, and the way in which the Committee will interpret the rules regarding the question, including justifying logic when necessary.
Credits: This document was written by David Samuels, Chair of the UPA College Eligibility Committee. Additional comments and assistance were provided by Joshua Greenough, UPA National College Director, and Will Deaver, UPA Championship Director. Comments can be directed to David Samuels, at upa_coll_elig_comm@upa.org.
Section 1 – Frequently Asked Questions
1.1 Post-Graduate School Enrollment
1.2 Injuries
1.3 Years Off
1.4 Different Schools
1.5 High School/Youth (Juniors) Participation
1.6 High School/Youth Team Participation in the College Series
1.7 Correspondence and Internet courses, Continuing Education and Extension programs
Section 2 – Rationale/History of Rulings
2.1 Post-Graduate School Enrollment
2.2 Injuries
2.3 Years Off
2.4 Different Schools
2.5 High School/Youth (Juniors) Participation
2.6 High School/Youth Team Participation in the College Series
2.7 Correspondence and Internet courses, Continuing Education and Extension programs
1.1. Post-Graduate School Enrollment (Back to top)
Q: I am enrolled in classes this spring, but will not be enrolled in a degree-seeking program. Is there any way I can play for the school where I am taking classes?
A: No. The Committee feels strongly that you must fulfill the letter of the rules regarding your enrollment status—in other words, you must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program in order to participate in the College Series.
(See Section 2.1 for more information regarding this question.)
1.2. Injuries (Back to top)
Q: I was injured during one of my years of college and could not participate in the College Series that year. Can I have that year not count towards my 5 years of Eligibility?
A: No. The Committee has ruled on several occasions that the UPA does not give extra years of Eligibility due to injury. This is due to many factors that include philosophy, fairness, tracking and consistency. . At this time, there is no way to get an extra year of eligibility due to injury.
(See Section 2.2 for more information regarding this question.)
1.3. Years Off (Back to top)
Q: I was not in school during one or more of the 5 years following my joining the UPA. Is there any way I can have those years not count against my 5 years of Eligibility?
A: No. The rules are quite clear in this regard—you have 5 post–high school years from the time you join the UPA to play in the College Series, regardless of what you do with the intervening time. So, in general, there is no way for you to get extra years of Eligibility for years that you did not participate in the College Series. Note that there is one exception: for students who joined the UPA while in high school and graduated from high school in 2002 or later. See Sections 1.5 and 2.5 for more details.
(See Section 2.3 for more information regarding this question.)
1.4 Different Schools (Back to top)
Q: For whatever reason, my school cannot field an Ultimate team. I wish to play in the College Series, and so I would like to play with the team from another school, which is more competitive, geographically sensible, etc. Is there any way I can do this?
A: Yes. The only method that is in place for students to compete with teams from schools other than the one they attend is to form a consortium between the two schools. The details of this program can be found on the Single-Team Status page. Please visit this page to see if you believe your program qualifies.
(See Section 2.4 for more information regarding this question.)
1.5. High School/Youth (Juniors) Participation (Back to top)
Q: I joined the UPA while in high school, but went to a college where there was not a team and I haven’t played any competitive Ultimate since graduating. Is there any way I can get back my Eligibility for those years that I didn’t play?
A: Sort of. If you graduated high school in 2002 or later, your Eligibility begins to expire at the earlier date of (i) June 1 of the year following your high school graduation or (ii) your first participation in a post-high school national Ultimate governing body-sanctioned event. If you graduated high school prior to 2002, your Eligibility began to expire June 1 of the year in which you graduated.
(See Section 2.5 for more information regarding this question.)
1.6 High School/Youth Team Participation in the College Series
Q: Can a high school or other youth-based, non-college team participate in the UPA College Championship Series?
A: No. The College Series is for college and university teams only.
(See Section 2.6 for more information regarding this question.)
1.7 Correspondence and Internet courses, Continuing Education and Extension programs
Q: Can correspondence or internet courses be used to fulfill the Eligibility requirements? How about courses taken through a continuing education or extension program?
A: Maybe. Such courses may generally not be used to fulfill Eligibility requirements. However, the UPA recognizes that, under certain circumstances, such courses may be within the spirit of the Eligibility Rules. Hence, students wishing to apply such courses to fulfill Eligibility requirements must complete the Coursework Validation Process. Details about this process can be found at Coursework Validation Process.
(See Section 2.7 for more information regarding this question.)
2.1. Post-Graduate School Enrollment (Back to top)
These cases usually come as some combination of the following facts:
The rule in question (II.A) is one of the most basic rules and states:
S/he must be both accepted and enrolled in a regularly matriculated degree program at the school for which eligibility is to apply.
In the past, the Committee has taken a somewhat loose interpretation of this rule, and under certain restrictive circumstances has allowed students to play with schools in which they had not yet enrolled. However, following the 2004 season the Committee discussed this rule and decided that the earlier interpretation was incorrect. It was an incorrect reading of the rules and unnecessarily opened the system up to fraud and abuse. So beginning with the 2005 College Series, the Committee will be interpreting II.A more literally—if you wish to play in the College Series you must be enrolled at the school you wish to play with, meaning you must have already matriculated.
2.2. Injuries (Back to top)
These cases generally take the form of someone arguing that they could not participate in the College Series in a given year due to injury, and thus that year should not count against their 5 years of eligibility. They are generally appealing to the Prologue, which states that the goal of the rules is to limit players in the College Series to 5 years of significant Ultimate experience.
The Committee has ruled, time and again, that the UPA does not offer ‘redshirt’ years due to injury. There is simply no feasible mechanism to allow the UPA to offer such a policy. For one thing, the Committee feels that significant experience can take many forms, including practice, playing pick-up, or even throwing with friends. Additionally, the Committee feels that if one gains any significant experience during a given year, the year should count against the 5 years of eligibility. Practically speaking, it is basically impossible to prove that you were incapacitated to the extent that you could not gain any significant experience for a full year, even if you can prove that you did not participate in the College Series that year. Finally, the administrative processes that would be required to verify and track this kind of exception are more than the UPA’s current resources will allow.
So, in general, there is no mechanism that would allow you to get another year of eligibility if you missed one due to injury.
2.3. Years off (Back to top)
This case is similar to the years missed due to injury case. In general, it takes the form of "I did not play with my college team during year X because I had to do Y, and so year X should not count against my eligibility." Y can be a year studying abroad, a year out of school for academic reasons, personal decisions, etc.
Again, the rules are fairly clear on this count. While the Prologue states that the goal of the rules is to limit players to 5 years of significant Ultimate experience, the rules are also clear on the fact that once you participate in a UPA (or any National Ultimate Governing Body, e.g., CUPA) event, you have 5 years to participate in the College Series, regardless of what you do in the meantime. And, much like in the injury case, it is simply impossible for you to prove that you did not gain significant experience during the year off, regardless of what you were doing. So the Committee has ruled that, regardless of the circumstances, you have 5 years from when you participate in a UPA (or any National Ultimate Governing Body, e.g., CUPA) event to participate in the College Series.
2.4. Different Schools (Back to top)
In this situation, a student is attending a school which does not have an Ultimate team, either because it is too small or because it has not had a history of Ultimate, or for some other reason. They would like to play with a team at a larger or more established school which is usually geographically close to the one they are attending. The only way in which a student can play with a team from a school other than the one they are attending is by establishing a consortium between the two schools. This is done through the UPA’s Single-Team Status program. The rules for this program can be found here.
If you wish to play with a college other than the one you are attending, you must fill out an application for single-team status, as detailed on this webpage. You should know that very few consortium applications are accepted (approximately 10-20% each year). You need to fulfill all the requirements before the UPA will approve a consortium, especially the ‘Big 3’—prior academic consortium, history of athletic collaboration, and shared facilities between the schools. In particular, one class of consortia which are essentially never approved is that between a junior or community college and a larger state school. Such consortia simply open up the system to too much abuse. So if you are interested in playing with a team at a school other than the one you are attending, you must apply for a consortium between your two schools.
2.5. High School/Youth (Juniors) Participation (Back to top)
These questions usually center on high school participation in UPA sanctioned events, including High School or Youth Championships and the Club Series. The rules previsouly said that if a player joined the UPA while in high school, the eligibility start date was taken to be June 1 of the year of High School graduation. In 2002 it was decided that high school students should be given one ‘grace year’ to not go to college and participate in other activities without having that count against their eligibility. Thus, the eligibility start date of someone who joins the UPA in high school is now either June 1 of the year following graduation, or the date of first participation in an event sanctioned by a National Governing Ultimate Body, whichever comes first. However, this rule was not and is not retroactive—it applies only to students who graduated high school in 2002 or later.
If you graduated from high school in 2002 or later and participated in a UPA (or some other National Ultimate Governing Body) event in high school, your eligibility began to expire either when you first played in a post-graduation sanctioned event or one year after you graduated, whichever came first.
2.6 High School/Youth Team Participation in the College Series (Back to top)
At one time high school teams were allowed to compete in the College Series. Whether this was an official or unofficial policy is unclear, but it is clear that it happened. Part of the reasoning was that the teams could add depth to smaller tournaments, that the teams likely would not affect the advancement of college teams, and that "Juniors" teams at the time were underserved by the UPA and needed opportunities to play. As the College Series has developed, it no longer needs the support of non-college teams to be successful and has grown more focused on the integrity of the division as a structure for college-only competition. At the same time, the UPA has focused incrased attention on development of Youth Ultimate (formerly "Juniors"). Now there are many opportunities throughout the country for youth and high school based teams to participate in their own competitive structure. Click here for more information on the Youth Development Program.
2.7 High School/Youth Team Participation in the College Series (Back to top)
In general, correspondence and Internet courses, and those taken through a continuing education or extension program, may not be used to fulfill Eligibility requirements. However, the UPA recognizes that, under limited circumstances, such classes may be considered functionally equivalent to regularly attending classes at the school at which eligibility is to apply. Under those limited circumstances, the UPA acknowledges that such classes may apply towards fulfilling Eligibility requirements.
For such classes to be considered applicable towards fulfilling Eligibility requirements, they must undergo the UPA Coursework Validation Process. This process essentially consists of documenting the students’ enrollment as well as the nature of the courses underin question. For more information on this process, go to Coursework Validation Process.
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