The New NCAA Transfer Rule and What it Means for Degree Completion Programs within the NCAA
By Olivia Miller; Photo Credit: On3.com
For years, the NCAA and individual universities have offered degree completion programs for student-athletes who leave their university before the commencement of their undergraduate education in order to pursue professional athletics.[1] This offering aligns with the core value of the NCAA “to provide a world-class athletics and academic experiences for student-athletes that fosters lifelong well-being”, and this program has been taken advantage of by almost 3,000 student-athletes.[2] NCAA legislation regulating degree completion programs requires all member schools to provide degree completion assistance to former student-athletes when the following conditions are met: 1) the athlete participated in any sport; 2) the athlete received athletically related financial aid in a head count sport or received athletically related financial aid that resulted in the student- athlete receiving (through athletics aid and other aid combined) the value of full tuition and fees, room and board and required course-related books while previously enrolled in a regular term at the institution; 3) the athlete was previously enrolled for at least two years; 4) the athlete met NCAA progress toward degree requirements when at the time the athlete departed campus; 5) the athlete has not attended another institution full-time since departure; 6) the athlete meet institution’s re-admission and financial aid requirements; 7) the athlete returns to the departed institution within 10 years; and 6) the athlete has exhausted other degree completion funding options (e.g., NBA Tuition Reimbursement).[3] While these rules seem fair in terms of requirements on both the student-athlete and the institution, it is important to consider them in the context of the newly enacted transfer legislation.[4]
In early 2024 the NCAA enacted legislation which allows transferring student-athletes who meet certain academic eligibility requirements to be immediately eligible at their new school, regardless of whether they transferred previously.[5] This means that a student-athlete could transfer every year without restriction or a ‘sit-out’ period, and this opportunity to transfer has been widely taken advantage of as the number of student-athletes entering the transfer portal has risen 75% over the past two years.[6] Although this rule is widely accepted as beneficial for the student-athletes who are offered increased flexibility and opportunity for play, what does it mean for accessibility to degree completion programs?
With the ability to transfer so easily, student-athletes risk losing the opportunity for degree completion assistance, which requires a student-athlete to be enrolled at any specific university for at least two years and not attend another university full-time.[7] Florida State University clearly states this policy in their degree completion requirements requiring that a “[degree completion] applicant finished their NCAA competition eligibility at Florida State (did not transfer)”, and many other universities do the same.[8] With the increased rate of transferring and decreased length of time spent at each university before enrolling in anther, it might be time to rewrite NCAA degree completion legislation to better embody the NCAA’s new transfer rules and reflect their commitment to academic excellence.[9]
Olivia Miller is a 2L at Vanderbilt Law School. She is from Tallahassee, FL and graduated from Pepperdine University in 2023 with a degree in Finance. She is working towards the Law and Business Certificate at Vanderbilt Law.
[1] See Student-Athlete Degree Completion Assistance, NCAA, https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2019/3/12/student-athlete-degree-completion-assistance.aspx (last visited Jan. 10, 2025).
[2] Mission and Priorities, NCAA, https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/6/28/mission-and-priorities.aspx (last visited Jan. 10, 2025).
[3] See NCAA Academic and Membership Affairs, Division I Degree Completion Assistance – Student-Athlete Core Guarantees, NCAA (Spring 2024), https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/compliance/d1/D1Comp_CoreGuaranteesDegreeCompletion.pdf.
[4] See Meghan Durham Wright, Division I Council approves changes to transfer rules, NCAA Media Center (Apr. 17, 2024), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/4/17/media-center-division-i-council-approves-changes-to-transfer-rules.aspx.
[5] Jason J. Montgomery, TaRonda Randall, & Kristina Minor, NCAA Adopts Changes to Transfer Rules and NIL Rules, Husch Blackwell (Apr. 24, 2024), https://www.huschblackwell.com/newsandinsights/ncaa-adopts-changes-to-transfer-rules-and-nil-rules#_ftnref1.
[6] Ryan Young, NCAA officially ratifies new rules allowing athletes to transfer multiple times and still be immediately eligible, yahoo!sports (Apr. 22, 2024), https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-officially-ratifies-new-rules-allowing-athletes-to-transfer-multiple-times-and-still-be-immediately-eligible-225903569.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACdCBMPpVPFLIwt8PYibvXUl49XvWfoCV6eCOsf3NgKLNoYQSdP29T6N-Vy6ohzrUa_Ao0h1f8BX99yQFDndqyvao5QC18UQmK9fw5LCnV-1H_4VtilpnUGUEg1qI_cx2L8pHnwBUvA-CVQ0eQSWBrL-jdzt038J26MaEpEwFS0C; Nathan Barber, A growth in NCAA student athlete transfers since 2021, The Front (July 16, 2024), https://www.thefrontonline.com/article/2024/07/a-growth-in-ncaa-student-athlete-transfers-since-2021.
[7] See NCAA Academic and Membership Affairs, supra note 3.
[8] Student Athlete Academic Services, Degree Completion, Florida State University, https://saas.fsu.edu/degree-completion (last visited Jan. 11, 2024).
[9] Barber, supra note 6.