Morgan State University has been placed on probation due to its failure to manage the eligibility certification and financial aid processes, according to a Division I Committee on Infractions panel. For four years,the university improperly certified the eligibility of 94 student-athletes in 10 sports. Over the same period, the university improperly provided financial aid to student-athletes in nine sports.

Due to the university’s lack of monitoring and control, student-athletes practiced and competed while ineligible. This included those who had not yet received their eligibility certification or met the eligibility standards. Other student-athletes competed while enrolled less than full-time, without meeting their progress-toward-degree requirements or after their eligibility was exhausted.

The panel noted the substantial advantage the university and student-athlete received when ineligible student-athletes were able to compete and receive tens of thousands of dollars in financial aid and expenses.

Penalties in the case include:

• Four years of probation through Dec. 18, 2021.
• One-year postseason ban for softball, tennis and football.
• A $5,000 financial penalty plus one percent of the 2017-18 budgets of football, softball and women’s tennis programs.
• During the 2018-19 academic year, scholarship reductions of five percent in the ten sports where violations occurred.
• Recruiting restrictions in the ten sports, including a seven-week ban on unofficial visits and off-campus recruiting, official visit reductions, communications restrictions.