NCAA warns multiple transfers tied to sharply lower graduation rates in college football

The NCAA released data Wednesday that showed the graduation rate for a set of Bowl Subdivision football players who transferred more than once was 27% lower than those who stayed put their entire career, numbers it portrayed as a “warning sign” in the ongoing legal wrangling over eligibility and player movement.

The NCAA provided the data to The Associated Press during a season in which it is being sued around the country by players seeking a fifth year of eligibility, with that fifth year almost always involving a transfer. Courts have ruled against the NCAA's new elibility rules in multiple cases.

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.

“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, which faces an uncertain future in the House , would curtail future eligibility lawsuits against the NCAA, though the current legal actions would not be impacted.

Among other data provided by the NCAA:

— While the FBS players saw a 28% decline in the graduation rate between non-transfers and multiple transfers, the number was 21% for players in the smaller-school Championship Subdivision.

— In women's basketball, the rate fell from 90% for non-transfers to 77% for multiple transfers.

— Men's basketball actually saw an uptick in graduation rates for non-transfers (74%) to those who transfer once (80%). Often, those transfers play their final year at a different college after earning their degree at the original school. But the number drops to 67% for multiple transfers.

— The graduation gap for Black athletes who didn't change schools and those with multiple transfers was 20%, while for white athletes it was 14%.

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