The NCAA Division I Council on Wednesday approved changes to notification-of-transfer windows across all sports.
The Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee supported 45-day windows as preferable to previously introduced 30-day windows.
In men’s and women’s hockey, windows will be modified to 45 days, beginning seven days after championship selection.
“We are pleased the student-athlete voice was acknowledged and emphasized as part of the conversation about amending transfer windows,” said Cody Shimp, chair of the Division I SAAC and former baseball student-athlete at St. Bonaventure, in a statement. “We are happy that the council was able to find common ground and push forward a 45-day window to continue to provide a reasonable period of time for student-athletes to make rational and informed decisions about their athletic and academic futures.”
Data from the first year of the notification-of-transfer windows indicate that 61% of student-athletes who transfer are entered into the NCAA transfer portal within the first 30 days.
The council also heard from the Legislative Committee on an update to graduate transfer waiver guidelines. The Legislative Committee noted that notification-of-transfer deadlines of May 1 for fall and winter sports and July 1 for spring sports apply to graduate transfers transferring for the first time, and that beginning in 2024-25, graduate students seeking waivers for postgraduate eligibility will need to comply with those same deadlines.
The council expressed support for the current transfer waiver guidelines for student-athletes who have transferred multiple times as undergraduate students.
Additionally, the council eliminated the requirement that an undergraduate transfer student-athlete count against financial aid limits if that student-athlete voluntarily withdraws from the school for non-athletics reasons.
