President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that is intended to regulate college sports.
Specifically, the executive order is designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools.
Under the new rule, athletes would have one free undergraduate transfer.
Here is an excerpt from ESPN:
The order states that college athletes can play a maximum of five seasons during a five-year window and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect on August 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn’t meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.
“College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules concerning pay-for-play and player eligibility that can’t be endlessly challenged in court, as is the case now,” the White House said in a press release about the order.
Multiple lawyers who work with colleges and their athletes told ESPN they believe that judges would rule the president’s order to be unconstitutional and unenforceable if challenged in court.
Pete Nakos of On3 points out some potential conflicts with the new order:
Couple of notes:
+ Creates a situation where NCAA members will have to follow Trump's order or ignore previous judicial decisions.
+ A key sticking point will be whether the president has legal authority over NCAA eligibility rules."It's terrible for the schools, do they ignore… https://t.co/65ErXBNakK
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) April 3, 2026
