A new NCAA study has shown that student-athletes with multiple transfers have lower graduation rates than those with no or fewer transfers.
Data released by the NCAA on Wednesday showed a 27 percent graduation rate among a group of Football Bowl Subdivision players who transferred more than once. The findings raise serious questions regarding the debate around player transfers and eligibility. Per ESPN:
The statistics analyzed the six-year graduation rate — considered on time when redshirts and other factors were weighed in — for around 36,000 athletes who enrolled in college in the 2018-19 school year. Black athletes across all sports saw the most precipitous decline — from an 82% graduation rate with no transfers, to 74% with one and 62% with more than one.
The data showed that regardless of race, gender, or sport, multiple transfers typically had graduation rates 10 percentage points lower than those who transferred once and 15 to 20 percentage points lower than peers who never transferred.
The NCAA released the study as it faces several lawsuits regarding player eligibility for a fifth year, which routinely results from a transfer.
In a statement on Wednesday, NCAA President Charlie Baker called the data a “flashing red warning sign,” referring to the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan federal bill designed to establish uniform national standards for collegiate athletics.
“This data should serve as a flashing red warning sign that the court-imposed transfer rules are resulting in worse academic outcomes for many student-athletes,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said. “But thankfully Congress is closer than ever to passing a bill to reverse this trend.”
The Protect College Sports Act seeks to establish “requirements for name, image, or likeness (NIL) agreements for college student-athletes and provides a limited antitrust exemption for schools and conferences to pool and sell certain college sports media rights,” according to Congress.gov.
“The bill also provides student athletes with one transfer without losing athletic eligibility and restricts football personnel from becoming the head football coach at a different institution during the same season,” it adds
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