The NCAA has agreed to drop a rule making it difficult for Division I college athletes to transfer schools and remain eligible to play following a civil lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states.
The Justice Department, District of Columbia and 10 states involved in the lawsuit announced the proposed agreement with the NCAA on Thursday. In its announcement, the Justice Department said it filed a proposed consent decree to prohibit the NCAA "from enforcing the Transfer Eligibility Rule, from enforcing the Rule of Restitution against anyone in connection with the Transfer Eligibility Rule and from implementing rules imposing similar restrictions between Division I colleges and universities."
As reported by CNN, the agreement would end the civil suit against the organization over its transfer eligibility rule, which required student athletes who transferred more than once to sit on the bench for an entire season before being allowed to compete at their new school.
Prosecutors said the rule forced college athletes to either stay in schools they wanted to leave or to transfer and miss out on athletic opportunities. The complaint also alleged the rule “was anticompetitive because it deterred college athletes from challenging anticompetitive rules in court,” the Justice Department announcement stated.
If approved by a judge, the deal would bar the NCAA from enforcing the transfer rule or adopting any similar rules between Division I colleges and universities in the future, the announcement said.
It would also require the NCAA to issue an additional year of eligibility to certain qualifying college athletes who were previously deemed ineligible to play for any length of time because of the transfer rule.
“Free from anticompetitive rules that unfairly limit their mobility, Division I college athletes will now be able to choose the institutions that best meet their academic, personal and professional development needs,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division stated in the announcement. “This resolution is a testament to the benefits of federal and state enforcers working together to ensure free markets and fair competition for all Americans.”
The NCAA’s Division II also had a similar rule but revised it to remove the year requirement for transfers, according to the release.
