78th National Debate Tournament
2024 — Atlanta, GA/US
NDT Academic Eligibility Rules
Rules Language Pre-NDT academic eligibility verification is due February 8th: To be an eligible debater for the National Debate Tournament, a student must provide, by February 8th to the NDT committee chair, an official document from appropriate university officials verifying that the student is registered as an undergraduate, degree-seeking student, and is in good standing at the school for which the student is participating. The document should be dated any date starting January 21 through February 8 immediately preceding the NDT in which the student wishes to participate. The degree-seeking requirement does not apply to any student enrolled in a junior college or a community college. The Chair of the NDT Committee shall promptly notify the applying program director of any application which does not meet the above criteria. The program director may then appeal the eligibility of the debaters by contacting, and submitting all relevant documentation to, the NDT Committee Chair not later than one week from the date of notification. The appeal will then be forwarded to the Appeals Committee. The Appeals Committee may conduct the appeal by means of telephone calls, email or conference calls. The Appeals Committee may grant an exemption when the student's school provides written documentation explaining why a student may be officially enrolled but may not be in good standing, for example, if the university/college defines "in good standing" by criteria other than satisfactory academic performance. [Standing Rules, II.A.1.g, https://nationaldebatetournament.org/about/standing-rules/]· The bolded information above is critical – each component needs to be evident in the documentation. Pro Tip – if feasible, ask your registrar to generate a letter with a list of your students that uses the precise language:
Each of the following students is registered as an undergraduate, degree-seeking student and is in good standing at [SCHOOL] as of [DATE]:
Additional eligibility criteria· This document/process deals with the ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY criteria. There are additional criteria schools/students must meet, including, but not limited to:
o School has paid NDT dues
o School is an AFA member
o Student cannot have judged at the NDT
o Must attend the same school unless a hybrid exception waiver is approved
· To count for bid allocation (which some districts require as a prerequisite for entry to the district tournament process) – a team must have either have both debaters have at least 12 varsity prelims at 2 or more tournaments (each consisting of a minimum of 4 preliminary rounds with at least 6 teams from at least four different schools) OR one debater has at least 24 varsity prelims at 3 or more tournaments (each consisting of a minimum of 4 preliminary rounds with at least 6 teams from at least four different schools)
Here’s the rule language [Rule II.B.1.b, https://nationaldebatetournament.org/about/standing-rules/]
b. Eligible teams: To submit for the bid allocation process, a team must have paid their NDT subscription fee and have either
(1) a minimum of 18 intercollegiate preliminary rounds on the fall CEDA topic or its NDT topic parallel either both as individuals or as a team of varsity or open debate in at least three tournaments, each consisting of a minimum of 4 preliminary rounds with at least 6 teams from at least four different schools in varsity or open division, or
(2) one member of the team with a minimum of 32 intercollegiate preliminary rounds on the fall CEDA topic or its NDT topic parallel in at least four tournaments, each consisting of a minimum of four preliminary rounds, with at least six teams from at least four different schools in varsity or open division (i.e., if one member of the team has at least 32 rounds satisfying the above requirements, no minimum number of rounds is required of the partner in order for the team to be eligible for the bid allocation process). For the 2023-2024 season, the required minimum number of rounds for team members and/or individuals is reduced to 12 (at a minimum of two tournaments) and to 24 (at a minimum of three tournaments) if satisfied by one member of the team. [Rule II.B.1.b.]
Attention: First Round Applicants!!!This year, the deadline for submitting for a first round is Tuesday, February 6, which is PRIOR to the February 8 academic eligibility deadline.
To be considered eligible for the first-round ranking, teams need to have completed the academic eligibility process, as per Standing Rule II.C.1.c:
c. Before making any teams eligible for ranking in the first round At-Large process, the NDT Director should verify with the NDT Chair that all teams have submitted academic eligibility forms that have been approved.
In order to maximize the Committee’s window of time to rank teams, please endeavor to submit academic eligibility documentation for any students you are intending to submit for a first-round at-large bid as early as possible to ensure that their documentation has been cleared in a timely manner. Submitting academic eligibility documents the week of February 5th could potentially narrow the window the Committee has to rank teams.