The NCAA’s Division I, with 331 institutional members, is getting too big, its Board of Directors decided today. At the athletic association’s summer presidential committee meetings, the board imposed a four-year moratorium, effective immediately, on new applications to the NCAA’s most competitive division. The 20 institutions with pending applications will be allowed to continue that process as the division reviews its standards for membership. Also during the four-year period, colleges will not be able to move subdivisions within Division I.

The NCAA meetings produced no change in a proposed ban on text messaging as a recruiting tool in Division I. The proposal will go to a vote at the association’s annual convention, in January.

Also at the meetings, the Division III Presidents Council decided to end a moratorium on new membership in that division, and to sponsor a proposal to limit the use of male practice players on women’s teams. The Division I board reaffirmed its commitment to athletes’ academic success, in anticipation of controversy over penalties for poor academic progress. —Sara Lipka