The NCAA Division I Council approved the immediate elimination of the national letter of intent program, the NCAA announced Wednesday, marking a historic shift in the recruiting landscape.
Established in 1964, the NLI program has existed as the formal, binding agreement between prospective athletes and college programs for the past 60 years. The NLI will be replaced by a new financial aid agreement that will provide many of the same basic functions as the NLI and will likely be tied to a contract related to a looming revenue-sharing model across college athletics.
Under the new rules, transferring athletes will be able to sign with a new school after formally entering the portal. According to the NCAA, once a prospect has signed a written offer of athletic aid, other schools will be “prohibited from recruiting communications.”
The Division I Council's decision to reject the NLI program comes as the NCAA and college athletics prepare for a sea change through the impending House settlement, which will award approximately $2.8 billion in damages to current college athletes and previous and will pave the way for university programs. begin paying its athletes more than $20 million annually as soon as next fall.
A final hearing to approve the deal is scheduled for April 7, 2025.
The elimination of the NLI program comes just over a year after the Association of Collegiate Commissioners, which oversees the NLI program, approved policy changes that allowed athletes to withdraw from NLI agreements without penalty under certain circumstances. Those changes, related to coaching changes and release requests, went into effect for the 2023-24 signing periods for athletes who enrolled during the 2024-25 academic year.
Following the NLI's decision, next could be a change to the NCAA recruiting calendar with a specific focus on football.
College commissioners opted against a formal vote on adding a June high school signing period earlier this year. The early signing period for the 2025 cycle begins December 4, 2024, followed by the traditional signing period beginning February 5, 2025.
