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2023-24 FOUR-YEAR TRANSFER GUIDE
Certifying school: The new school you want to attend
determines if you are eligible to play.
Continuing-eligibility rules (rules affecting how long you may
compete in a certain sport):
» Division I: If you play at a Division I school, you have five
calendar years to play four seasons of competition. Your five-
year clock starts when you enroll as a full-time student at any
college. Your clock continues to tick down, even if you
redshirt, are not attending school or enrolling part time during
your college career.
» Divisions II and III: If you play at a Division II or III school,
you have the first 10 semesters or 15 quarters in which you
attend as a full-time student to complete your four seasons
of participation. You use a semester or quarter any time you
attend class as a full-time student or enroll part time and
compete for the school. You do not use a term if you only
attend part time with no competition or are not enrolled for a
term.
Financial aid (commonly referred to as a “scholarship”): Any
money for school you receive from a college or another source.
Financial aid may be based on athletics, financial need or
academic achievement.
Full time: Each school determines what “full-time” status means.
Typically, you are a full-time student if you are enrolled for at least
12 credit hours in a term. Some schools define a full-time student
as someone who takes fewer than 12 credit hours in a term.
Initial-eligibility rules: Initial-eligibility rules determine whether
you may practice, compete and receive an athletics scholarship
during your first year at a Division I or II school.
International students: An international student is any
student who attends a two- or four-year school outside the
United States.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA):
The national governing body for over 1,100 colleges, universities,
conferences and organizations.
National Letter of Intent: NCAA schools that are part of the NLI
program may send an NLI to a college-bound student-athlete they
have recruited to participate in their intercollegiate
sports program.
The letter is a legally binding contract. It explains what athletics
financial aid the school agrees to provide the student-athlete
for one full academic year, only if the student is admitted to the
school and eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules. If you sign
an NLI, you agree to attend that school for one academic year and
other schools that are part of the NLI program can no longer
recruit you. For more information, visit nationalletter.org. The NLI
program is not administered by the NCAA.
NCAA Eligibility Center: The NCAA Eligibility Center evaluates
your high school academic record and/or amateurism history to
determine if you are eligible to participate during your first year at
a Division I, II or III school.
Nonqualifier: A student-athlete planning to attend a Division I
school who has not met academic requirements to be a Division
I qualifier will be deemed a nonqualifier. If you are a nonqualifier,
you may not practice, compete or receive an athletics scholarship
from a Division I school during your first year of full-time
enrollment. (Division II does not have nonqualifiers.)
Notification of transfer: An NCAA Division I or II student-athlete
must request a notification of transfer through their current
compliance staff before having any direct or indirect athletics
recruiting with another NCAA school. Once requested, your
compliance office shall enter the student’s contact information into
the NCAA Transfer Portal within two calendar days (Division I) or
seven calendar days (Division II). Division III schools also have the
option to utilize the NCAA Transfer Portal; however, please check
with your Division III school to see what it prefers. To view
additional notification-of-transfer information, please review
pages 10 and 11 of this guide.
Partial qualifier: Any Division II student who has not met the
requirements necessary to be a qualifier. If you are a partial
qualifier, you can practice on campus and receive financial
aid from a Division II school, but you cannot compete for one
academic year. Division I does not have partial qualifiers.
Permission-to-contact letter (written permission to contact): If
you attend a Division III school and wish to have any direct or
indirect recruiting communication and/or seek athletics aid with
any future NCAA Division I or II school, you first need to request a
written permission to contact from the compliance office at your
Division III school. If this request is denied for any reason, you may
request a hearing opportunity to proceed with an appeal with your
Division III school. If you are transferring from a Division III school
to a different Division III school, you can complete a Division III
self-release form before submitting the release form to your new
Division III school to begin recruiting activities.
Important NCAA Terms
Qualifier: A student who, for purposes of determining eligibility
for financial aid, practice and competition, has:
» Graduated from high school.
» Earned the required number of core-course credits in the
required subject areas.
» Earned a minimum GPA in the required subject areas.
» For information on Division I and II initial-eligibility
requirements, visit on.ncaa.com/IE_Flyer.