S3
Office of the President
TO MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ATHLETICS
DISCUSSION ITEM
For Meeting of May 14, 2024
DEVELOPMENTS IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Over the past decade, and especially over the past few years, there have been a number of
significant developments in the world of college sports. A foundational principle of the National
Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has been the concept of amateurism, with a goal of
ensuring that college student-athletes remain an integral part of the student body and that a “clear
line of demarcation” is maintained between college and professional sports.
In recent years, the amateurism concept has evolved, and the line of demarcation has been
blurred due to a series of reforms, including two primary items. First, the deregulation of NCAA
transfer rules has allowed student-athletes to enter the Transfer Portal and immediately compete
at their next school, resulting in a proliferation of transfers. Second, the advent of name, image,
and likeness (NIL) legislation has enabled college student-athletes to sponsor commercial
businesses and products and receive compensation from NIL Collectives, which were created by
athletics department supporters (boosters) to pay student-athletes (primarily in the sports of
football and basketball) under the NIL framework. The combination of these reforms has turned
college sports into a form of free agency in which student-athletes (especially in the sports of
football and basketball) often transfer schools multiple times in search of a better NIL deal.
These and other recent reforms have provided enhanced benefits to intercollegiate student-
athletes while creating challenges for universities and the college sports industry as a whole, with
implications related to competitive equity, gender equity, and the future of Olympic and
women’s sports. A series of recent lawsuits and state legislative actions have continued to shape
the future of college sports, and it seems certain that a new model of college athletics will
emerge.
BACKGROUND
Amateurism
One of the bedrock principles of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has been
the concept of amateurism—only amateur student-athletes have been eligible to participate in
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON -2- S3
ATHLETICS
May 14, 2024
intercollegiate athletics. The NCAA membership has strived to maintain a “clear line of
demarcation” between college and professional sports. The goal has been for intercollegiate
student-athletes to be an integral part of the student body and for college athletic departments to
be an integral part of the educational mission of their respective universities. Through this
foundational concept of amateurism, individuals were deemed ineligible for intercollegiate
competition if they used their athletics skill, directly or indirectly, for pay in any form in any
sport.
Athletic Scholarships
One of the primary means of upholding the principle of amateurism has been an NCAA rule that
prohibits a university from providing a student-athlete with any compensation beyond a full
athletic scholarship.
Prior to 2014, NCAA bylaws stated that a full athletic scholarship consisted of tuition and fees,
room and board, and books. It did not include other items such as transportation costs and
miscellaneous personal expenses that are included in the cost of attendance formula developed
by each university’s financial aid office. Athletic scholarships were one-year agreements,
renewable each year at the discretion of the athletic department (with an appellate process to the
school’s financial aid committee if athletic aid was not renewed).
Ultimately, college student-athletes could receive an athletic scholarship and have an outside job,
but they were prohibited from receiving any other forms of compensation. Moreover, there were
strict NCAA prohibitions on athletic department supporters (boosters) from providing “extra
benefits” to student-athletes to supplement their athletic scholarships.
Recent Student-Athlete Reforms
Since 2014, partially due to pressure from various lawsuits and state legislative actions, the
NCAA membership has adopted a number of reforms that have enhanced the package of benefits
that could be provided to student-athletes, including (but not limited to) the following items:
● First, the NCAA updated its scholarship rules to allow athletic departments to provide
student-athletes with full cost of attendance scholarships, as calculated by their respective
financial aid office. This effectively allowed student-athletes to receive about $3,000
annually beyond the previous value of a full athletic scholarship.
● Second, the NCAA adopted a rule that prohibited athletic departments from reducing,
canceling, or non-renewing a student-athlete’s athletic scholarship based on athletic
performance or injury. This effectively turned one-year athletic scholarships into four-
year guaranteed scholarships.
● Third, due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston federal antitrust case,
the NCAA amended its rules to allow athletic departments to provide student-athletes
with academic performance grants valued at up to $5,980 per year, provided that the
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON -3- S3
ATHLETICS
May 14, 2024
student-athletes meet academic criteria established by the university (e.g., maintaining
progress toward degree). These “Alston Grants” are provided in addition to a full athletic
scholarship.
● Fourth, prior to 2014, if an athletic department provided a “training table” meal to
student-athletes (e.g., a post-practice meal), their scholarship (room and board) stipends
were reduced by about $10 per meal. Per NCAA rules, the only food items that could be
provided to student-athletes in addition to their athletic scholarship were fruit, nuts,
bagels, and traditional post-game meals. In 2014, the NCAA rules were amended to allow
athletic departments to provide unlimited meals to student-athletes in addition to a full
athletic scholarship.
● Fifth, the NCAA implemented other enhancements to the student-athlete support system,
including requiring athletic departments to cover medical expenses for student-athletes
for up to two years post-graduation for athletic injuries sustained while in college,
creating career development and degree completion programs, and implementing time
management plans to help student-athletes balance the time demands of being a college
student and athlete.
● Finally, as outlined below, arguably the most impactful NCAA reforms have been a
deregulation of NCAA transfer rules along with the adoption of name, image, and
likeness (NIL) legislation.
Deregulation of Transfer Rules
In 2018, the NCAA Transfer Portal was created, allowing college student-athletes to enter their
name into the Portal to be able to communicate with other universities about transferring to their
institution. Prior to 2018, student-athletes seeking to transfer to another university were required
to ask their athletic department for permission to contact another institution. With the creation of
the Transfer Portal, student-athletes no longer had to seek permission to speak with other
universities about transferring.
Moreover, prior to 2021, in the sports of football, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey, student-
athletes who transferred to another university were required to serve a year in residence at the
new school before they were able to compete. In 2021, the NCAA adopted a rule allowing
student-athletes in those sports the ability to compete immediately after their first transfer.
However, the NCAA stated that student-athletes would be required to serve a year in residence
before competing at their new school if they transferred more than once.
In December 2023, the state of West Virginia and six other states filed a federal antitrust lawsuit
against the NCAA, challenging the NCAA transfer rules that required student-athletes to serve a
year in residence if they transferred more than once. In response, a federal judge granted a
temporary restraining order, prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing its transfer rules. In April
2024, the NCAA adopted new legislation allowing student-athletes to compete immediately upon
each transfer, even if they have transferred multiple times.
