NCAA Data Links Multiple Transfers to Lower Graduation Rates

Among Football Bowl Subdivision athletes, those who changed schools repeatedly completed degrees at a rate 27% below those who stayed at one institution, according to NCAA figures released November 11. The figures cover about 36,000 athletes across sports who enrolled in college in 2018-19 and track graduation within six years, accounting for redshirts and other factors.

Across sports, athletes with several transfers generally had graduation rates 10 percentage points below athletes with a single transfer and 15 to 20 points below those who remained at the same school. Football players in the smaller Championship Subdivision had a 21% decline.

Black athletes had the largest gap in the overall data: their graduation rate fell from 82% among those who stayed at one school to 62% among those who transferred more than once. Women’s basketball rates dropped from 90% to 77%. In men’s basketball, one-time transfers graduated at 80%, compared with 74% of non-transfers, while the rate for multiple transfers was 67%. Some one-time transfers completed their degrees before playing a final season elsewhere.

NCAA President Charlie Baker called the figures a warning about court-ordered transfer rules and backed congressional action. The Senate approved the Protect College Sports Act 77-22 on September 28; the measure would establish uniform eligibility and transfer rules and restrict future eligibility lawsuits. It would not affect pending cases. Its House prospects weakened after Democrats took control of both chambers in the November 3 midterms; changes sought by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise could also require another Senate vote.

The athletes in the data spent most of their college careers before a federal judge removed the mandatory waiting period for repeat transfers in December 2023. Roughly 200 cases in state courts, concerning as many as 850 athletes, remain pending.