The NCAA has created many new resources for student-athletes to help improve their college experience over the past decade. One of the most important ones was the creation of the transfer portal. Players have started to utilize it, but there are still many people who misunderstand its purpose and benefits.

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Why Was the Transfer Portal Created in the First Place?

The transfer portal was created as a way to improve compliance amongst universities athletics departments. It made the process of transferring from one institution to another much more transparent and efficient, incentivizing student-athletes to explore options if they are unhappy with their situation.

How Does the Transfer Portal Work?

The portal is essentially a function of the NCAA's new Division I notification of transfer model. The transfer portal and this model act together to carry out a bylaw change made by the NCAA that requires compliance workers within universities athletic departments to submit players' names and information to the portal no later than 48 hours after their request. A player may decide to remove his/her name from the transfer portal and it is up to the school to decide whether or not they want to reinstate them as a member of their program's roster. Although this policy gives more power to the athletes, schools are able to withdraw any aid granted to an athlete the semester following the one in which the transfer portal request was made.

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The transfer portal is a big stride made to benefit college athletes as they work hard to perfect their craft. It turned a long and grueling process of requesting a transfer into something that takes mere minutes to complete. Along with this, college athletes no longer have to sit out a year in order to transfer schools. I am excited to see how it is carried out and how players decide to utilize it over the following years as it continues to be developed.
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* Originally published on September 30, 2022, by Royce Linder