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NCAA transfer portal

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"Transfer portal" redirects here. Not to be confused with Transfer window, a related concept in association football (soccer).
NCAA transfer portal
Type of site
Student athlete database
Compliance tool
OwnerNational Collegiate Athletic Association
ServicesStudent athlete college transfer
URLhttps://apps.ncaa.org
RegistrationAccess limited to NCAA members
LaunchedOctober 15, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-10-15)

The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application,[1][2] database,[3] and compliance tool[4] created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is intended to bring greater transparency to the transfer process and to enable student athletes to publicize their desire to transfer.[4] The transfer portal is an NCAA-wide database covering all three NCAA divisions, although most media coverage of the transfer portal involves its use in the top-level Division I (D-I).

The portal launched on October 15, 2018.[4] New regulations adopted in 2021 allow student-athletes in D-I football, men's and women's basketball, men's ice hockey, and baseball to change schools using the portal once without sitting out a year after the transfer, creating uniform transfer rules for all NCAA sports across all divisions.[5][6]

Process

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The transfer portal permits student athletes to place their name in an online database declaring their desire to transfer.[7] Athletes enter the portal by informing their current school of their desire to transfer; the school then has two business days to enter the athlete's name in the database.[7] Once an athlete's name is entered in the database, coaches and staff from other schools are permitted to make contact with the athlete to inquire about their interest in visiting the campus and accepting a scholarship.[8]

Transfer windows

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On August 31, 2022, the D-I board adopted a series of changes to transfer rules, introducing the concept of transfer windows, similar to those used in professional soccer worldwide. Student-athletes who wish to take advantage of the one-time transfer rule now must, under normal circumstances, enter the portal within a designated window for their sport. These windows are slightly different for each NCAA sport, but are broadly grouped by the NCAA's three athletic "seasons". At that time, the windows were as follows:[9]

  • Fall sports[a] – A 45-day winter window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport, and a spring window from May 1–15. According to the NCAA, "reasonable accommodations" would be made for participants in football's FBS and FCS championship games (respectively the College Football Playoff National Championship and Division I Football Championship Game[b]), both of which take place in early January. More specifically, participants in those games have a 14-day window opening on the day after the championship game,[10] as well as the spring window.
  • Winter sports[c] – A 60-day window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport.
  • Spring sports[d] – A winter window from December 1–15, and a 45-day spring window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport.
  • For sports included in the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program,[e] transfer windows are the same as those for fully recognized NCAA sports. As with fully recognized NCAA sports, transfer windows linked to championship events open on the day after selections are made for the generally recognized championship events in emerging sports.[10]

Student-athletes whose athletic aid is reduced, canceled, or not renewed by their current school, as well as those affected by a university's elimination of a sports team, may enter the transfer portal at any time without penalty. A slightly different exception applies to those undergoing a head coaching change; student-athletes so affected can enter the portal within 30 days of the change, starting on the day after the coach's departure is announced.[9]

Less than a month after transfer windows were adopted, the Division I Council adopted a change that affected only graduate transfers. Student-athletes who are set to graduate with remaining athletic eligibility, and plan to continue competition as postgraduate students, were exempt from transfer windows. They could enter the portal at any time during the academic year, and were not subject to the standard deadlines of May 1 for fall and winter sports and July 1 for spring sports.[11] In April 2024, graduate transfers became subject to the same deadlines as all other transfer students. This change did not affect windows for student-athletes affected by a head coaching change, a loss of athletic aid, or the discontinuation of a team.[12]

Because the Ivy League allows neither redshirting nor athletic participation by graduate students,[f] athletes at its member schools who are set to complete four years of attendance but still have remaining athletic eligibility may enter the portal at any time during their fourth academic year of attendance.[14]

In October 2024, the Division I Council reduced transfer windows in football and basketball to a total of 30 days. For FBS and FCS football, the fall window now opens for 20 days, starting on the Monday after FBS conference championship games. A 10-day spring window opens in mid-April. In men's and women's basketball, a single 30-day window opens on the day after the second round of each Division I tournament concludes. The existing exceptions regarding head coaching changes, a loss of athletic aid, or the discontinuation of a team remain in place.[15]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Cross country, field hockey, football, soccer, women's (indoor) volleyball, men's water polo
  2. ^ The NCAA has never operated an official championship at the FBS level; the official name of the FCS playoffs is "NCAA Division I Football Championship".
  3. ^ Basketball, bowling, fencing, gymnastics, ice hockey, rifle, skiing, swimming & diving, indoor track & field, men's wrestling
  4. ^ Baseball, beach volleyball, golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, tennis, outdoor track & field, men's volleyball, women's water polo
  5. ^ Acrobatics & tumbling, equestrian, rugby union, stunt, triathlon, wrestling. Rugby is a fall sport, stunt and wrestling winter sports, and the others spring sports.
  6. ^ Because the Ivy League shut down nearly all sports in 2020–21 due to COVID-19 issues, the conference issued a one-time-only exception to the prohibition of graduate student participation in the 2021–22 academic year.[13]

References

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  1. ^ NCAA Transfer Portal User Guide (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. October 2018. The Transfer Portal is an NCAA application to manage the transfer process for Division I and II student-athletes.
  2. ^ NCAA Transfer Portal User Guide (PDF). 2.0. National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2019. Google Chrome is the recommended browser to use the transfer portal.
  3. ^ Chip Scoggins (July 30, 2019). "NCAA's database for prospective transfers topples barriers for athletes". Minneapolis Star Tribune.
  4. ^ a b c Johnson, Greg (Fall 2019). "What the NCAA Transfer Portal Is... and What It Isn't". Champion. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 6, 2022. The concept seemed simple: an online interface that helps athletics compliance officers do their jobs efficiently. But for sports fans hungry for information on lineups, the Transfer Portal has become so much more.
  5. ^ "NCAA ratifies new one-time transfer rule". The Dartmouth. April 30, 2021.
  6. ^ "DI Council adopts new transfer legislation" (Press release). NCAA. April 15, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Brutlag Hosick, Michelle (June 13, 2018). "New transfer rule eliminates permission-to-contact process" (Press release). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  8. ^ "Want to Transfer?". Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Division I Board adopts changes to transfer rules" (Press release). NCAA. August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Bylaw 13.1.1.3.1: Notification of Transfer". NCAA Legislative Services Database. NCAA. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  11. ^ "DI Council modifies transfer rules for postgraduate students" (Press release). NCAA. September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  12. ^ "Division I Council approves changes to transfer rules" (Press release). NCAA. April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  13. ^ Borzello, Jeff (February 11, 2021). "Ivy League allowing one-time waiver for grad students to play in 2021–22 due to COVID-19 pandemic". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  14. ^ Borzello, Jeff (February 12, 2020). "Is the Ivy League transfer policy helping players or hurting them?". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  15. ^ "DI Council approves changes to notification-of-transfer windows in basketball, football" (Press release). NCAA. October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
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