Division I Board of Directors ratifies transfer, NIL rule changes

Effective immediately, Division I student-athletes have access to additional school assistance with name, image and likeness activities and more flexibility to transfer, the Division I Board of Directors decided Monday when it affirmed action taken last week by the Division I Council. 

Schools can identify NIL opportunities and facilitate deals between student-athletes and third parties. Student-athletes are not obligated to accept assistance from the school and must maintain authority over the terms in their NIL agreements. Beginning Aug. 1, member schools will be permitted to increase NIL-related support only for student-athletes who disclose their NIL arrangements.  

Also effective immediately, Division I student-athletes who meet certain academic eligibility requirements will be immediately eligible at their next school, regardless of whether they transferred previously. Specifically, to be immediately eligible after a transfer, undergraduate student-athletes must have left their previous school while academically eligible and in good standing (not subject to disciplinary suspension or dismissal) and meet progress-toward-degree requirements at their new school before competing. For graduate transfer student-athletes to be eligible, they must earn a degree from their previous school, leave while academically eligible and be enrolled as a full-time postgraduate student while satisfying minimum academic standards. 

Board Finance Committee seeks feedback on women's basketball fund

The Board of Directors Finance Committee will seek broad membership feedback on key questions related to the targeted distribution amount, structure and source of funding for the women's basketball fund.  

Based on initial feedback, the committee is targeting an initial payout in the 2025-26 fiscal year based on performance in the 2024-25 Division I Women's Basketball Championship. To meet that goal, the group intends for the Division I membership to vote on a proposal creating the fund at the 2025 NCAA Convention in January.  

The committee also supported making permanent a two-year pilot program that allowed 50% seeding for the women's volleyball and women's soccer championships. In addition, the group supported the seeding of 16 teams in the Football Championship Series. That request must be approved by the Board of Governors later this week.  

Governance access and voting rights 

The board provided conferences that have fallen below membership requirements more guidance about the impact of being below the requirements and the legislated two-year grace period while they work to get back up to full membership status.  

The board determined that conferences that are entering a two-year grace period will: 

• Continue to retain representation and voting rights on the Division I Council, Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Football Oversight Committees, when applicable. 
• Continue to retain representation only on sport committees for sports a conference continues to sponsor. 
• Be permitted to submit nominations from their conference members for other Division I standing committees. 

The board determined that conferences with fewer than seven members (including reclassifying schools) during the grace period will not retain representation on the Division I Board of Directors.  

The board also moved the Pac-12 from an autonomy Football Bowl Subdivision conference to a nonautonomy FBS conference, which impacts the weight of its vote at the council level and participation in the autonomy legislative process. 

These changes are effective Aug. 2.