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🗞 What You Need to Know. Trump Administration Caps Student Visa Stays at 4 Years. Senator Says Key Piece of College Sports Legislation ‘Probably’ Has 60 Votes. Opinion: How D-III Athletes, Programs Can Navigate the NCAA NIL Era. Baseball Committee Recap

📆 What’s Happening This Week. The DIII Management Council begins a two-day meeting in Indianapolis. And the DII and DIII Playing Rules Oversight Panel meets on Wednesday.

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“The Trump administration will cap international students’ stay in the U.S. at four years, regardless of the length of their academic program, under a rule finalized Thursday.

Two types of visas popular among foreign students and academics — F and J visas — will require holders to apply to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for an extension if they need more time to complete their studies.

The change is set to take effect mid-September. Under the rule, eligible international students already studying in the U.S. can stay for the remainder of their program or for up to four more years. However, they could lose that option if they leave the U.S. during that period.”

» Why It Matters. “The rule, set to be published Friday in the Federal Register by DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will significantly alter if and how foreign students can study in the U.S.”

» What They’re Saying. Fanta Aw, CEO and executive director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, called the visa cap “a solution in search of a problem” and an “unnecessary government intrusion into academic decision-making.”

» Be Smart. “Undergraduate and master’s degrees are typically designed to be completed in four years or less. But it’s not uncommon for students to take more time to finish these programs.”

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“A lawmaker sponsoring a key piece of the Protect College Sports Act said he believes the bill likely has the support it needs to make it through the upper chamber.

“We probably have 60 votes,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said Friday at the Associated Press Sports Editors meeting.

He said leaders from the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences, both of which oppose the bill as it is written, have met with him and other top sponsors — including Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.. — to negotiate changes in the bill in an effort to gather their support.”

» State of Play. “Without the bill, Schmitt said “the trajectory of this in three years will be even further unrecognizable,” predicting a scenario in which women’s sports teams fold under financial strain.”

» Worth Noting. “Even if the bill passes the Senate, it would face an unlikely run through the narrowly divided House, where both Democrats and Republicans have found a number of flaws with another bill — the SCORE Act — that never came to a floor vote.”

“Historically, Division III has occupied a unique place within National Collegiate Athletic Association: Student-athletes could not receive athletic scholarships, and athletics were intended to complement, rather than dominate, the college experience.

As a former D-III soccer player, I chose my program over other opportunities because I knew I would not be playing professional soccer and I wanted that balance, as well as the chance to study abroad and receive a world-class education. However, in the wake of the implementation of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals in college athletics, this balance has started to change.”

» Driving The News. “As NIL opportunities become increasingly common at the D-III level, an important question emerges: How can D-III athletics embrace athlete compensation without losing its longstanding non-scholarship ethos?”

» Why It Matters. “Throughout my collegiate career, our soccer program maintained strong ties to the local community. We hosted youth camps, volunteered at community events, partnered with local businesses and regularly brought visitors into town for games and tournaments. These activities generated economic benefits for local restaurants and retailers, while also strengthening relationships between the college and the surrounding community. NIL agreements can build upon these existing relationships.”

» The Final Word. “If NIL continues to develop through these community-based partnerships, it may not erode the D-III model at all. Instead, it could reinforce the very values that have long defined D-III athletics.”

“Addressing technology rules in baseball was a primary theme for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year for the Division I Baseball Rules Subcommittee and the Division II and Division III Baseball Rules Committee.

The technology proposals include giving Division I teams the option, when available, of implementing a system to challenge called balls and strikes that could be used in regular-season and postseason games next year.

This would be an experimental rule in Divisions II and III.”

» Other Proposals. “Both committees approved the use of 18-inch square bases for next season at all facilities. The 15-inch base remains the standard for use. A double first base would be required for all games. Two experimental rules were proposed: Conferences in all three divisions could receive approval to experiment with allowing pitchers only two disengagements from the pitcher’s plate per batter. A third disengagement would be considered a balk unless the pickoff attempt results in an out. Also, pitchers entering a game would be required to face at least three batters, unless the inning ends before three batters could be faced.”

» Membership. The DIII Membership Committee is recommending that the Management Council approve noncontroversial legislation to eliminate the minimum participant requirement in acrobatics and tumbling for sports sponsorship for the 2026-27 academic year. The committee also denied a waiver request from Pratt Institute on minimum sports-sponsorship requirements in men’s indoor and outdoor track and men’s golf.

» Lacrosse (W). “Following a review of participation and recruiting for the upcoming season, Linfield University has decided to discontinue its women's lacrosse program.”

» Commissioners. Named Heather Benning of the Midwest Conference and Dwayne Hanberry of the SCAC to the DIIICA Executive Committee.

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