WASHINGTON – The transfer portal for student-athletes has become increasingly popular in recent years. The transfer portal consists of athletes switching to different schools easily without having to sit out for a season. However, the portal has caused negative effects in the classroom.
Some of the reasons that student-athletes transfer include NIL deals, playing time, TV exposure, seeking more competitive programs, etc. According to NCAA.com, “…over 10,500 college football players entered the transfer cycle for 2026.” This stat attests to the portal’s popularity. Some athletes are seen transferring 3+ times, as the NCAA has no cap on the number of times one player can transfer schools. Enrolling in three different schools must has an effect on those students academically, as no school has the exact same curriculum or classes even for similar majors. Transferring has had a negative effect on some student-athletes when it comes to academic priority.
Transfer athletes face issues of not earning their degree on time. Monmouth University Running Back Makhi Green speaks to this, based on his observations.
“Transfer players often talk about losing credits most, with occasional talks of delayed graduation. The reason for this is because not all colleges are the same, meaning that one school may offer courses that another doesn’t. This could result in those credits not transferring over with the player,” Green said. “Many just do the bare minimum to stay eligible.”
Many athletes find themselves trying to prove their worth athletically, while academics fall to the wayside, doing just enough to be able to still play. Their sports become the number one focus when it should be the opposite.
“I’ve heard their conversations about how they believe they always can catch up on schoolwork, but as far as their sport, they are crunched on time,” Green said. “In reality, your education will prove more useful than the sport in the long run.”
However, it’s not always only the athletes who are pushing the agenda that athletics come first.
“Many top college athletes are focused on athletics so hard that academics become secondary, and sometimes coaches are feeding this as well,” said J. Elijah Bratton, Ph.D., assistant director of academic & student affairs at Howard University.
Student-athletes are around their coaches regularly. Those coaches who preach athletics over academics have therefore ingrained that into their athletes’ heads. If no one else is present to them, the athletes otherwise, that’s what they will follow.
Bratton also mentioned how schools do not check in with transfers enough to see how they are progressing in their new workload and classes. Brand new environments, workloads, and adapting to new teaching styles require a close eye. That then begs the question of who is really advising these athletes?
Money has also been a key factor in student-athletes not prioritizing academics. After 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that student-athletes can make money from their Name, Image, and Likeness. This includes brand endorsements, commercials, etc. “Athletes are now promoting everything from fast food, to automobiles, to professional sports teams and the dollar amounts are significant. The contracts range from $20,000 for an individual endorsement to $540,000 for a team sponsorship of all athletes, to a reported $1,000,000 portfolio of deals for one Alabama football player (Kenyon, 2021).”
Now in 2026, some of them are making millions of dollars as a result, in just their late teen years, another distraction from schoolwork. Sports reporter with Howard University News Service, Kyle Alexander, speaks to this.
“Now you have the aspect of I’m not going here for school, but now I’m getting paid to be an athlete instead of getting paid to be a student-athlete, so the NIL takes away the student from student-athlete and makes them focus too much on being an athlete,” Alexander said.
The transfer portal is more than just switching schools for sports, but also a new environment entirely that can affect factors outside of the sport. The transfer portal has now become a key factor in college sports, and because of its increasing popularity, academics should be monitored more closely because of the academic challenges the transfer portal brings. Dr. Bratton believes that institutions need to do more research on the impact of the transfer portal on the academic well-being of student-athletes.
William Armstead is a reporter for HUNewsService.com
