NCAA College Football Transfer Rules
All cadres of college football competitions are guided by the NCAA college football transfer rules. For example, players of Division I school can feature in four seasons of football competitions within five-calendar years. This five-year span begins once you are enrolled in any college as a full-time student but, due to transfer issues, you may have to use one academic year in residence and may not feature in any competition. But, for players in Division II or Division III colleges, the whole process is quite different. The NCAA college football transfer rules for Division II and Division III players demand that the first ten semesters or 15 quarters have to be dedicated to players’ full-time enrollment for the four seasons’ competition.
Always visit the NCAA Transfer Rules site.
Already, an academic system that aids the attainment of a bachelor’s degree by a student-athlete is in place in most of these colleges. Based on the NCAA college football transfer rules, student-athletes can compete for four seasons but in only one sport. Student-athletes in Division I and II classes can spend a full-season in their chosen sport, just like their counterparts in the Division III category, but they must compete for some periods after the competition has commenced. The following factors guide the NCAA college football transfer rules.
Legislative Exception
But there is always an exception, a legislative exception. Legislation-affected students are not eligible for the competition. For example, if you just had a transfer to a school, your eligibility to take part in the competition will be determined by the school.
One-time Transfer Exception
One-time transfer exception could also prevent you from participating. For example, students who just leave a four-year-school for another school may be eligible to play for their new schools, but they have to meet the conditions below:
- Transfer to Division II or Division III school. If the transfer is made to a Division II or III school, the student-athlete may be eligible to feature in a competition. But, if the transfer is made to a Division I school, eligibility may be got but not in baseball, basketball, football, or ice hockey for both men and women. Student-athletes on transfer in Division I schools may be eligible for other sports, not the highlighted ones.
- They are eligible athletically and academically in a former four-year school. Intending student-athletes should be fit academically and athletically in their former schools before they could be eligible to play in their new schools.
- Receipt of a transfer-release agreement from a former four-year school. The would-be student-athletes must get a transfer-release agreement from their former schools before they are allowed to compete in the competition.
Waiver
Waiver, a specific and extraordinary circumstance which tends to override an NCAA college football transfer rules, is capable of preventing a student from participating in college sports. An NCAA school has the ability to file a waiver for its student-athletes, but the school cannot get the waiver administered, except the NCAA itself.
Initial Eligibility
No student-athlete can feature in these competitions without being eligible. Once the issue of eligibility has been sorted out, the following issues have to be addressed as soon as possible.
- Financial aid: This refers to the money received by a student-athlete in the form of loans and grants. Most times, this aid comes in the shape of financial need, athletics, or academic achievement.
- National letter of intent: Prospective recruits or student-athletes should get a National letter of intent from their NCAA schools. This letter should be sent on time so that the affected student-athletes will know that they would be participating in the competition. Being a legal-binding contract, the letter is expected to show the financial aid that will be shouldered by the school for the whole academic year. So, once you have appended your signature on the letter of intent, it is believed that you would attend the school for a full academic year. And, as contained in the NCAA college football transfer rules, you cannot be recruited by other schools on the National Letter of Intent program.
So, if you were called by a college coach more than once and contacted off-campus while your expenses to the campus were paid off, it may be said that you have been recruited. But recruitment cannot take place until the written offer of financial aid or National Letter of Intent has not been offered, signed, and met.
Schools
Categories of schools are affected by the NCAA college football transfer rules. Certain conditions have to be carefully considered by student-athletes of these schools so that they can take active roles in colleges’ competition.
- Certifying school: Don’t be misled. The new school you got transferred to will determine whether you are eligible or not.
- Membership: Colleges, universities, and athletics conferences constitute the NCAA, and they tend to introduce rules and vote on decisions to take when these rules are breached. Members of the NCAA ensure that colleges and universities conform to the NCAA college football transfer rules in order to attain the numerous goals of athletics across colleges. Membership, based on structure, is divided into three district divisions— Divisions I, II, and III. Each Division has its separate governing structure.
- Two-year college: In this type of college, students can bag Associate of Arts (AA) degree, Associate of Science (AS) degree, or Associate of Applied Science degree in just two years. For some people, these schools are nothing but junior or community colleges.
Qualifier
In addition to being considered eligible on the grounds of financial aid, student-athletes who intend to compete must be:
- A high school graduate.
- Someone who has completed the required core curriculum courses successfully in specified subjects within the allowed timeframe.
- A person who got a specified minimum GPA in the core curriculum courses.
Athlete College Transfer Process
There is a need for you to spend an academic year in the school you just got transferred to before you can be eligible for any college football competition. The NCAA college football transfer rules say that an academic year in residence in the new school is a condition that must be met before the would-be student-athlete can compete. But, as said earlier, this rule may be waived if the student-athlete is open to waiver and transfer exception. This process can further be discussed under the following factors:
- Permission-to-contact: Full-time student-athletes who are enrolled in four-year schools cannot be approached directly by the athletics staff of other NCAA schools. The NCAA staff can only contact them or their parents after they have met with the student-athletes’ current athletics directors or administrators. So, your current school must okay your written permission-to-contact before the new school can work on your transfer request. But this permission won’t be necessary if the school you intend to transfer to does not belong to the NCAA.
- Self-release: Student-athletes in a Division III school may want to affect their transfer to another Division III school. Getting this done is not a big deal as you can get our personal self-release permission-to-contact Division effected so that other Division III schools can reach you.
- Transferable credit hours: You might have earned some credit hours right there in your former school. The credit hours can be transferred as a degree credit to your new school. But the ability to get these credit hours transferred does not rest on your shoulders alone. The school you intend going will have to determine the number of credit hours that would be transferred.
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