JUCO and the 40/60/80 Transfer Rule

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As I understand it, this rule states that if a JUCO player, at year three, wants to transfer to a 4 year school, they must have completed 40% of their required coursework from the transferring instuition.

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You're close.
A 2 year transfer student (who was a qualifier out of high school)must be able to transfer 40% progress to the degree program of the school he is transferring to (not 40% of the requirements from the transferring school.)Prior to year 3 all D1 (D2 rule is very similar now) athletes must declare a major and these hours must "dovetail" into this major.For example, in a 120 hour degre program the JUCO player must be able to transfer 48 hours of degree credit into his major.

The rule for transferring after year 1 is pretty much the same (20%) because it refers to completing 12 semester hours of transferrable degree credit per academic term. However, it should be considerably easier to meet the one year requirement since all of the classes should be of core variety and will fit into any major.

Thanks for the clarification.

If a player gray shirts during the first year, does the restriction go away? So far, I have found this to be a very fuzzy area and it seems to depend on the school you are applying to...I know of one school that classifies such applicants as new freshman as opposed to a transfer student...

The playing status of the athlete is irrelevant. The clock starts ticking when the student athlete first enters college. Redshirt, greyshirt doesn't matter...to be eligible in your third year of school you must have 40% progress to degree.

If your definition of greyshirt is going to a prep school or just getting tutoring, your clock doesn't start until you enter college.

That said, the status of your college situation might be a factor in when the clock starts. My 04 is playing junior hockey in the fall and the word is he can take one (and only one) class each semester at a JUCO without starting his clock. We're going to verify this with the NCAA, but we know of numerous players who have done this.

My oldest (an 03), aware of this new rule, transferred to a D-I for baseball after his freshman JUCO year. Having gone through this, I recommend this move, especially if the reason you're JUCO is academic. Some NCAA coaches will shy away, but we've had many threads on these boards about the rule and it seems to be the way to "beat" it.

OldVaman,

Thanks for sharing your son's JUCO transfer experience. Your understanding is my understanding as well. I talked with the Athletic counselor at the JUCO and she reiterated what you have posted...We were told anything less than 12 units per semester (meaning not a full time student) will prevent the clock from ticking...

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We were told anything less than 12 units per semester (meaning not a full time student) will prevent the clock from ticking...

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Maybe I'm confused as to your point, but the requirement is that in order to transfer from the 2 year school after year 1 and be immediately eligible, you must have completed at least one full time semester (12 hour minimum).
In that case, the 40% rule isn't in effect, but you still have to have been a full time student the semester prior to transferring.
This assumes that you were a qualifier out of high school.

While I don't want to put words into anyone's keyboard, I suppose it could be like this:

You don't want to start your NCAA clock, or you have one than one remedial area, so you JUCO part-time for a year or two. Of course, you have to be full-time to be eligible to play on the JUCO team, but that is not an issue, like junior hockey.

But this is baseball.

Plusside, the clock has not started. The downside, some schools have specific admissions policies about transfers (won't be considered unless they have X hours completed). And if you were not a qualifier out of high school, you have to graduate from JUCO or you lose a year of NCAA eligibility anyway.

And no matter when you transfer, you still have to be 40 percent before the third year. The advantage of the one-year JUCO is that you have a year (plus summer, if need be) at the 4-year school to get to the 40 percent.

In the case of our son, the academic rep we talked to on our visit said that probably wouldn't be a problem, since he took classes that would meet most anyone's general education requirements. So nearly all of his hours transferred and, if he chooses the major he's leaning toward, he'll be in good shape to make the 40. If he does a different major, he should still make it, but it will be close.

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Of course, you have to be full-time to be eligible to play on the JUCO team, but that is not an issue, like junior hockey.

But this is baseball.

Plusside, the clock has not started. The downside, some schools have specific admissions policies about transfers (won't be considered unless they have X hours completed).

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If I'm missing something here straighten me out...it's been a long week
If he's not attending the JUCO full time (12 hours) he can't play baseball. If he isn't playing, the NCAA isn't concerned about his status because he isn't a transfer (for baseball purposes).

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The advantage of the one-year JUCO is that you have a year (plus summer, if need be) at the 4-year school to get to the 40 percent.

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Absolutely....in addition, you run a considerably less risk of classes not transferring into the degree plan due to the fact that they will be remedial.

Again, I'm guessing on the motivation here, but it would be when the five years to complete four seasons begins.

The NCAA won't check into you until you start playing. But once you do, they will calculate when your clock started, whether or not you were playing at that time. So it is possible that, unless you double-checked first, your clock started a year of two before you started to play. It means your redshirt option is gone, even though in sounds like, in this case, that was kind of the plan all along.

Forkball, help us out here.

Yes, the motivation is to not have the clock start with respect towards logging any time against the four seasons of competition. As a greyshirt you can practice with the JUCO team, but you are not aloud to particpate in any of college sanctioned games. You are also not a full-time student. During this time, any 4-year school can pick you up. As for transferring, the story becomes a little bit more obscure. Colleges apparently establish their own criteria. For example, I know of one college that considers anything less than 30 units, a first-time freshman applicant. I know of another school that will not take underclassman transfers period (they haven't since 2001). And yes the key to all of this is if you are a "NCAA Qualifier." Clear as mud?

The intent, and I apologize if I was misleading, is to transfer before the first year. Ideally after the first semester. Sorry, this is all new stuff to me.

Since I haven't posted in two years, or even had a good chance to keep up with this beloved website that has taught me so much, I guess I have a lot of catching up to do!!! New rules to learn about and a totally new situation for my son since high school graduation. So I'm back, starting all over again, doing my research, and asking for "those in the know" to help me understand. Come on, guys....you've never let me down before, so give it to me straight.

I have a very sketchy understanding of this 40/60/80 transfer rule as it pertains to my son's current situation, but I can see that it is something I very much need to comprehend!

My son graduated from high school 2 years ago, and went to a California Junior College baseball program, where he was a redshirt. The coach believed he had D-I potential, but felt he needed more time, and he did not want to use up a year of my son's eligibility for just a few games. Unfortunately, our family situation made it impossible for my son to return to that CA Juco, so he transferred to a local Juco last year. He played last year as a starter and made the All-Star team for his conference, using up one year of eligibility, but TWO years of academic work. Now he is being recruited by a D-I school, a D-II school, an NAIA college, and his Juco also wants him to return to play a second year with them. So now I am perplexed...not about his eligibility status, because I understand he still has 3 more years available to play. Rather, I need help with academic issues.

Not all of his academic credits transferred from the California Juco to the present Juco, although about half did. Since his new Juco was on a quarter system vs the CA Juco's semester system, he gained some good academic credits, making up for some of the credits lost via the transfer.

If I am understanding this 40/60/80 rule, if my son transfers to a NCAA D-I or D-II school in the fall, he has to have a certain percentage of transferrable credits recognized by the new school in order to be eligible to play. But is it 20% or 40% in my son's case?

And if my son decides to return to his local Juco for the coming year rather than going NCAA, that will give him 2 years at the present Juco, plus one redshirt year at the other Juco. Will he need 40 % or 60% of transferrable credits if he goes to an NCAA school in 2005-2006?

And finally, if he decides to go the NAIA route now, is this 40/60/80 rule even applicable, or is this only an NCAA rule?

I am realizing that depending on the proper interpretaton of the required percentages of this rule, it might be unwise for my son to return to his Juco for another year, if it means that he has to have 60% of his credits transfer to the new school in order to be eligible to play. Quite a tall order, even with a JUCO on the quarter system, and it would very much depend on the new school's leniency on transferrable classes that it will recognize from his Jucos. It seems to me that, depending on the new school's curriculum and graduation requirements, each NCAA school will have different criteria for acknowledging specific class credit transfers, and if 60% is required in my son's case, it might be almost impossible to achieve at some 4 year schools. In other words, just because he could transfer academically to a school, it is still possible, (depending on the percentage used in his case) that this 40/60/80 rule could render him ineligible to play, unless we are very choosy about which NCAA school, and we work very closely with the advisors to make this work. Looks like we need to fully understand this or we might accidentaly end his baseball career prematurely!

And again, if my son goes NAIA now, will this JUCO transfer rule even affect him?

Just wondering if I was even on the right track in my thinking....I'm counting on you all to tell me. Thanks.

First things first: If your son was NOT a qualifier out of high school, he must graduate from JUCO or he loses a year of eligibility. If he WAS a qualifier, it would appear your interpretation is correct.

You'll want to double-check with the NCAA and its transfer rules, but you should be all right on the 40-60-80. If was supposed to taken effect for those entering college last year. That said, individual schools will have their own interpretations of the rules. The 40-60-80 is a minimum requirement rule.

I don't know if the NAIA is following the NCAA on this. Others might.

Carrot Top.......If your son transfers to an NAIA school now, with three years of eligibility remaining, he should be good to go. He has to have successfully passed 24 credits in the past two full-time semesters (summer part-time credits can be added to that) to be eligible to compete.

The tricky part sometimes occurs when January comes. If he passed 24 the previous two semesters (but some are D grades) they will count for eligibility in his first semester at an NAIA school, but if the school does not accept the D grades toward graduation, those credits will be taken off when determining winter semester eligibility.....if this is the case he may have to take 15+ credits in the fall to maintain that 2 sem/24 cr. requirement heading into the winter semester.

Sorry if this was more than necessary.

Carrot Top- We were in the exact situation your son is in. Unfortunately our JUCO coaches (also the team's academic advisor-bad idea)wanted star son to return for another season (third academicly- second athleticly)Son was having a GREAT time and performing awesomely-also had dropped down to 12 credits per semester to strecth out being at the JUCO for three years (they don't let you stay when you have 80 credit hrs, just to play a sport)Then, after a terrific season-posting national marks for his division- The D1's came a calling. It was THEY who pointed out that it would be academic suicide for son to stay at the JUCO, third year, because then after the following year (third academically, second athletically), he would need 60% DIRECTLY INTO HIS DEGREE (and I don't think people REALLY understand what that means until they meet with an academic advisor at the 4 year school.)This is ESPECIALLY difficult for students who had no clue at what they were going to major in anyway. So, after a very generous scholarship amount at a top D1 up and coming program was on the table, we chose to make the move this year and not next. Then, throw in that son first started at a D1(did not play), then went JUCO, he also fell under the 4-2-4 rule that mandates GRADUATING from JUCO before returning D1. So, end result, son attending 12 credit hrs at JUCO this summer, it's over next week, will graduate, and move on. He will definately be ahead of the game credit into his degree academically, eligability wise, and can still play 3 years. For us it would have been a disaster if he wouldn't have made the move.Advise- Call the athletic-academic advisor at your 4 year school of interest. Listen, ask questions until you understand this process. The clock is ticking.