OPPORTUNITY

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OPTION #2: Two years of participation & completion of 48 college transferable hours at a two-year college level with three years of eligibility at the four-year division one level For the non-qualifying student/athletes who are not able to meet the necessary requirements to leave after one year at a two-year college as described in option one, there would be a new two-year option. With this option the student/athlete could participate at the two-year college for two seasons, complete 48 hours with a 2.5 GPA including the new NCAA core in four semesters (plus two summers if needed). He/she could then accept a scholarship to participate at the division one NCAA level school with three (3) years of eligibility remaining. The first year at the two- year college would again not count against his/her eligibility at the four-year university but rather would be considered a developmental year just as if he/she had gone to a prep school after high school. The student/athlete would retain his/her medical red shirt option. The student/athlete would still have to complete at least 9 hours of remediation during his/her first year as discussed in option one. More remediation could be required in some situations depending on the two-year college requirements. The student/athlete again would have to maintain all NJCAA or governing body rules as well as the institutional eligibility rules during the two years. The student/athlete would, however, be able to utilize all summer sessions and could count twelve (12) hours each summer (six hours per summer session) for a total of twenty-four (24) hours in two summers. This rule change versus the current rule allowing only nine (9) transferable hours per summer or eighteen (18) total hours for two summers would allow for more flexibility and would give the student/athlete an opportunity to retake a particular class he/she might fail or do poorly in the first time. This would be especially important with the new 2.5 GPA requirements or any additional remediation hours needed. The student/athlete would transfer into the four-year institution at the 20% graduation level with respect to APR. EXPLANATION FOR THE REVISIONS TO OPTION #2 FROM ORIGINAL MODEL FOR NON-QUALIFYING TWO-YEAR TRANSFERS TO FOUR-YEAR DIVISION ONE UNIVERSITIES REQUIRING GRADUATION The new proposal for Option #2 precludes student/athletes from having to graduate from the two-year institution in order to move on and accept an athletic scholarship at a four-year college or university after two years. With the increase in qualifying GPA averages included in the new rules that have been adopted by the NCAA for twoyear transfers requiring a 2.5 GPA from the previous 2.0 GPA, combined with new core requirements, many two-year and four-year college coaches and administrators believe it is going to be very difficult for most non-qualifying two-year college student/athletes to successfully complete the requirements and graduate in two years. Two-year college officials lobbied for an increase from 2.0 GPA to 2.25 GPA, to correspond with the new (2.25) GPA academic requirements for sophomore qualifiers who started at four-year institutions. This academic inequity has angered many two-year college faculty members and administrators. However, the 2.5 rule did pass, and based on the new academic requirements the NCAA has adopted, the general consensus from two-year college officials is that the NCAA should consider going back to their original transfer rules, which required only forty-eight (48) hours of transferable hours for a two-year college student/athlete to transfer to four-year NCAA institution. Here are some of the reasons suggested: 1. Most four-year colleges and universities accept only forty-eight (48) transferable hours of the sixty (60) or more hours required to graduate and receive an AA degree from a two-year college. 2. With the increased academic scores required, the two-year college student/athlete needs to focus more intently on a more limited but specific academic load, especially when coupled with the new core curriculum requirements and the mandatory developmental remediation classes he/she needs. 3. The two-year student/athletes GPA from the two-year college currently does not transfer to a four-year institution and a new GPA must be established beginning the first semester at the four-year institution. Since the student/athlete has already used up most of the 1000 and 2000 level courses in order to get to the sixty (60) plus hours necessary to graduate and receive an AA degree from the two-year institution, he/she will have to establish this new GPA by enrolling in primarily all 3000 level courses during the first semester at the fouryear institution. This is unfair since student/athletes who qualify and initially enroll in a four-year college can create their GPA over two years with 1000 and 2000 level courses and are required to have only a 2.25 GPA

at the end of two years. This really puts the two-year college transfer student/athlete at an academic disadvantage. 4. Many times a two-year college student/athlete simply runs out of time to complete all the necessary course work to graduate from the two-year institutions in two years. As described earlier in option #1 of the original proposal, with remediation requirements and the fact that English 1101 and college math classes are prerequisites for many other required courses necessary to graduate, it becomes nearly impossible to finish sixty (60) hours in four semesters. This is an especially critical factor since funding for scholarships for summer school is becoming very limited in the current economy. 5. High school, AAU, and four-year coaches will not recommend two-year colleges to recruits if the odds of graduation are too low. 6. Classes taken at the four-year colleges can always be transferred back to the two-year institutions if the student/athlete wants to complete the requirements and receive an AA degree from the two-year institution. Many times the two-year colleges receive financial benefits from the states based on student graduation numbers, and this would help satisfy that goal. Most states require that students complete only 20% of their class work at a particular two-year institution for that college to receive graduation credit for that student. Once the total hours necessary to finish the AA degree requirements had been successfully completed at the fouryear institution, those hours could be transferred back to the two-year college for graduation. This could become an automatic process with necessary hours being transferred back from the four-year institution to the two-year college.