🏅Transfer credits in the transfer portal?

Hey everyone,

Today we’re looking at the academic side of NIL — or, at least, one academic byproduct of the NIL era: the headaches that come with transferring course credits between schools. Though this might matter less to athletes who plan to leave school early for a professional draft, the vast majority of college athletes strive to get degrees related to future careers away from the field or court, and sometimes, the logistics can be a headache.

We’re turning to guest author Tariq Ahmad to learn more about transfer credits in modern college sports. Read on …

— Joan

QUICK HIT

A win for collectives

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the brewing fight between the newly formed College Sports Commission and collectives across the country. In a statement, the CSC indicated it would hold collectives to a higher standard when evaluating third-party NIL deals. Already, it seemed, the CSC was being tougher on collectives, denying many deals because it determined they did not meet the threshold for a “valid business purpose.”

But earlier this week, Yahoo Sports reported that the power conferences and NCAA officials had struck a deal with attorneys for the House plaintiffs to change the CSC’s standards. Now, the CSC will treat collectives similar to other businesses when evaluating third-party deals, lowering its standard by some amount.

Transfer credits in the transfer portal?

by Tariq Ahmad

In the two transfer windows after the 2024 college football season (one in December, the other in April), more than 3,400 FBS scholarship players entered the portal. That’s the equivalent of 40 entire teams leaving for (supposedly) greener pastures. 

Across men’s and women’s basketball, nearly 3,800 additional student-athletes hit the portal. And in the dozens of other intercollegiate sports, there were thousands more transfers, for a wide variety of reasons. Each year, some players want to move up divisions to play against tougher competition. Some want to play closer to home. Some don’t like coaches, and sometimes coaches leave. Some want a bigger bag.

There’s a lot to think about for an athlete who wants to transfer. However, there is one big factor that a portion of student-athletes don’t think of: the credits they could lose by switching schools. And though some high-profile athletes — particularly in football and basketball — go on to make a generous living playing their sport, more than 98 percent of college athletes end their playing careers when they graduate and need those credits for a degree. So as transferring has become more prevalent, I’ve begun to wonder: Is it hurting athletes in the long run?

I’m the CEO of Sports Court Consulting, a sports marketing agency that represents athletes in NIL deals — meaning many of my clients have faced the hurdles that come with transferring. So I decided to reach out to athletes throughout the college ranks to learn more. But before I get to their responses, it’s worth answering a quick, related question: Why don’t these credits just transfer?

In theory, English Literature 101 at School A should be the same as English Literature 101 at School B, right? But as Lee Corso famously says: Not so fast, my friend. 

Schools have regional accreditation processes — so a school in one region might have stricter guardrails around the value of the courses it offers than a school in another. Academic rigor also plays a role. For instance, School B’s course might be much more rigorous than School A’s. Therefore, School B would want to ensure the student is prepared for upper-level coursework. And finally, but not surprisingly: Whether credits transfer or not can come down to money. Every school prefers students take more of its courses, paying more in fees and ultimately generating more money.

Given those factors, I started the reporting process thinking student-athletes would lose at least one full semester (12 to 15 credit hours) when transferring, depending on how many years of eligibility/school they had remaining. I assumed that the earlier a student transferred, the fewer credits he or she would lose.

But in many cases, that’s not what I found. A freshman women’s basketball player who transferred from the AAC to the ASUN did not lose any credit hours — and worked with her academic advisor to ensure she would be able to carry over all her credits to her new school. A men’s basketball player transferring from a Midwest Conference school to the Southland Conference only lost three credits, which he made up this summer. (He also noted that his original Midwest Conference school made all students take two courses specific to the institution that did not transfer.) And another women’s basketball player transferring from a Big 12 school to a Big East school lost none of her 65 credit hours.

Some students had a bit more difficulty. One football player lost 15 credits when moving from the Big 12 to the AAC. A basketball player lost 16 credits when she transferred from a Northeast Conference school to a Big 12 school.

And I did speak with one track athlete who had a major loss of credits when transferring into the Big 12. “I lost 36 credit hours,” he said. “I was hesitant to transfer because of that.” But, he said, he “knew the track program … would be a better chance to compete against faster runners.” (The athlete did graduate from the Big 12 school, so he was able to make up his lost credits quickly.) 

My original hypothesis didn’t bear out — which means there might be one fewer piece of ammunition for transfer portal detractors. Additionally, it seems, flexibility to have more sports success isn’t actually coming at the expense of academic success.

Tariq Ahmad, PhD, is the CEO of Sports Court Consulting, a sports marketing agency that focuses on NIL athlete representation for contract negotiations and brand partnerships, NIL and personal branding education, and NIL events. Along with creating weekly NIL content across multiple platforms, Tariq also writes an NIL newsletter.