Student-athletes who transfer more than once graduate at lower rates than those who stay at one school or move a single time, according to new NCAA transfer research released on Wednesday. The study followed nearly 36,000 Division I athletes who entered college in the 2018-19 school year and tracked their progress over six years. Among those who never transferred, 88 percent graduated within six years, compared with 71 percent of those who transferred more than once.
NCAA transfer data shows a gap of 17 points
The gap held regardless of race, gender or sport in the NCAA transfer data. Athletes who transferred multiple times typically graduated at rates about 10 percentage points lower than those who transferred once, and 15 to 20 points lower than those who never transferred. The NCAA described the numbers as a warning sign as it faces lawsuits around the country from players seeking a fifth year of eligibility, a step that almost always involves a transfer.
The sharpest fall came in Football Bowl Subdivision football, where the graduation rate for players who transferred more than once was 27 percent lower than for those who stayed at one school for their whole career, according to the NCAA transfer figures. Among Football Bowl Subdivision athletes, 85 percent of those who never transferred graduated on time, compared with 58 percent of those who transferred more than once. In the Football Championship Subdivision, the rate fell from 83 percent for non-transfers to 62 percent for multiple transfers.
Black athletes saw the steepest NCAA transfer drop
Black athletes across all sports saw the steepest decline, from an 82 percent graduation rate with no transfers to 74 percent with one transfer and 62 percent with more than one. In women’s basketball, the rate fell from 90 percent for non-transfers to 77 percent for multiple transfers. Men’s basketball was the exception to the pattern in one respect: the rate rose from 74 percent for non-transfers to 80 percent for one-time transfers, often players who had finished their degrees before moving, before falling to 67 percent for multiple transfers. The pattern in the NCAA transfer data was the same in most sports.
The NCAA transfer study combined data reported to the NCAA with records from the National Student Clearinghouse, giving the NCAA research department six years of term-by-term enrollment and graduation records. Of the athletes studied, 24,500 had no record of transfer, nearly 7,700 had transferred once, either to or from a two-year or four-year institution, and about 3,800 had attended three or more institutions. More than a third of undergraduate student-athletes transfer at least once during their college careers.
NCAA transfer rules and the fight over eligibility
The NCAA released the data as it faces lawsuits from players seeking a fifth year of eligibility, with courts ruling against the NCAA’s eligibility rules in several cases. NCAA President Charlie Baker has pressed Congress to pass national rules for college sports, and in a letter to lawmakers in October he urged the House to pass the Protect College Sports Act, which the Senate approved last month. Baker cited the NCAA transfer figures in his letter, and he has argued that the court-imposed policy of unlimited transfers is leading to worse academic outcomes for athletes who move more than once.
The Protect College Sports Act would set national standards for college sports, including rules on name, image and likeness payments and limits on athlete transfers, though its future in the House is uncertain. The current lawsuits would not be affected by the bill. The NCAA said it would keep tracking academic progress and degree completion, and it encouraged schools to give athletes the support they need to stay on course for their degrees.
The study looked at bachelor’s degree attainment within six years, counting redshirt years and other factors in its definition of on-time graduation. The NCAA said it will keep monitoring the figures, and it plans to keep them in front of lawmakers as the eligibility cases move through the courts.