The Transformation Committee Outlines Proposed Division I Transfer Portal Windows and More
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The Transformation Committee Outlines Proposed Division I Transfer Portal Windows and More
Executive Summary
The Division I Transformation Committee has moved forward recommendations to overhaul the Division I transfer process.
The featured recommendation is setting “transfer windows”— roughly 60-days per sport— from within which a student-athlete would have to enter their name into the NCAA Transfer Portal in order to use the one-time transfer exception.
Recommendations from the Transformation Committee are intended to stabilize the transfer environment and create more stability around roster management.
The recommendations would create “clear and narrowly tailored eligibility requirements, sport specific transfer windows, and accountability measures…”
Waivers of the new NCAA transfer regulations will be at least “stricter” and possibly not allowed altogether.
Institutions accepting undergraduate four-year college transfer student-athletes would be required to provide financial aid to the student-athlete through completion of eligibility or until undergraduate graduation, whichever comes first, with exceptions.
The proposed changes, if adopted, would take effect for student-athletes seeking eligibility during the 2023-24 academic year.
As the 2022 summer progresses on Division I campuses across the country, the monitoring of the Division I transfer portal remains a daily priority for coaches across Division I as roster management has become a heightened challenge with more roster volatility than ever before.
To address these trends, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors will soon receive an update on the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee’s initial recommendations to enhance the undergraduate transfer model.
According to a recent NCAA update, the Transformation Committee’s recommendations are intended to stabilize the transfer environment by creating clear and narrowly tailored eligibility requirements, sport-specific transfer windows, accountability measures for receiving institutions, and new, stricter waiver standards. The Board of Directors will have the opportunity to provide reactions to the recommendations and provide input on the preferred process for action on the recommendations.
The NCAA Division I Transformation Committee developed the following recommendations to stabilize the transfer environment, require additional accountability for schools that receive transfer student-athletes and provide student-athletes with a window of time to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal each year in order to be eligible to compete in the following year. These changes will be effective for students-athletes seeking to establish eligibility during the 2023-24 academic year.
Transformation Committee’s Recommendations:
Base Rule
Revise the base transfer rule to permit an undergraduate student-athlete to transfer to another four-year institution and be immediately eligible provided the student-athlete: (1) left the previous institution academically eligible and in good standing (i.e., not under disciplinary suspension); (2) will be academically eligible at new institution prior to competition; (3) does not compete for more than one school, in the same sport, during the same academic year; and (4) provides written notification of transfer to the previous institution (i.e., enters the transfer portal) within a specified period.
Transfer Windows
Four-year college undergraduate transfer student-athletes in winter and spring sports may not provide notification of transfer (i.e., enter the transfer portal) until the day after the NCAA championship selections in the applicable sport and must enter the portal within 60 calendar days of that date.
In fall sports, there will be two separate transfer windows that will amount to 60 days total. The first window would be 45 days beginning the day following championship selection and the second from May 1 to May 15. If a student-athlete does not enter the transfer portal during the applicable window, the student-athlete must serve an academic year of residence at the new institution. Reasonable accommodations will be made for participants in the FBS and FCS championship games.
Financial Aid for Degree Completion
Institutions accepting undergraduate four-year college transfer student-athletes would be required to provide financial aid to the student-athlete through completion of the student-athlete's five-year period of eligibility or until undergraduate graduation, whichever comes first, unless the student-athlete departs the institution to transfer to another institution or enters a professional draft. Institutions would be required to count the student-athlete and the aid against applicable team roster and financial aid limitations unless the student-athlete is medically disqualified, exhausts eligibility or transfers to another institution or enters a professional draft.
Transfer Waivers
Waivers of the new transfer provisions, if adopted, should not be allowed or should be extremely limited. The committee requested that the NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief and the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics take this philosophical approach and establish new guidelines for waivers of the transfer windows and academic eligibility requirements, respectively.
Process Options
The Board of Directions will be asked: "Which of the following process options would the Board of Directors recommend for action on the transfer recommendation?"
1. Recommend the NCAA Division I Council review the concepts and provide feedback to the Board of Directors for consideration of legislative action during its August videoconference.
2. Recommend the Council review and establish positions on each component of the enhanced transfer model package. Any voting will be informational only and will be provided to the Board for reference to take legislative action during its August videoconference.
3. Recommend the Council review and consider emergency legislative action during its July videoconference.
The proposed transfer windows, by season and sport, are scripted as follows:
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
