Division I rules currently limit student-athletes to competing in four seasons of competition during a five-year period.

The Council decision will enable universities to apply for an additional season for athletes.

The extension will apply to spring sports, which will include athletics.

Baseball and softball, golf, tennis, lacrosse, beach volleyball and rowing are expected to be included.

The extension will not apply to sports which began in the winter season, such as basketball, gymnastics and wrestling.

The Council said members declined to extend eligibility for student-athletes in sports where all or much of their regular seasons had been completed.

Grace Calhoun, who chairs the NCAA Division I Council, claimed the decision will grant increased flexibility.

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” Calhoun, who is also athletics director at the University of Pennsylvania, said.

“The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student-athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”

The Council also approved an increase in the team size for baseball teams, which would enable student-athletes impacted by the coronavirus outbreak to participate.

A decision was also taken to allow NCAA members to adjust financial-aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarships.

The move is designed to allow for universities to have both incoming athletes and those who have had their eligibility extended.

Universities will also be able to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to help pay for scholarships for students who take advantage of the additional eligibility flexibility.

The NCAA last month cancelled all winter and spring championships - including the men's and women's basketball tournaments - because of the spread of coronavirus in the United States.

The men's and women's basketball tournaments - often known as March Madness - are two of the NCAA's biggest events of the year.

The women's gymnastic championships, baseball's College World Series, ice hockey's Frozen Four and both men's and women's golf championships were also among the cancelled events.